Exclusive-Amid Trump crackdown, surge in migrants in Mexico seeking help to return home

By Lizbeth Diaz

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown has coincided with a surge in U.S.-bound migrants in Mexico seeking help to return to their home countries, according to the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM).

In January and February, the agency received 2,862 requests for its assisted voluntary return program, more than triple the requests logged during the same period last year, according to IOM data shared exclusively with Reuters.

The record number of requests, which has not been previously reported, reveals the fallout of Trump's wide-ranging immigration crackdown, which has left thousands, if not tens of thousands, of migrants stranded in Mexico.

It's also the first hard evidence of a shift in attitudes among migrants who once viewed the opportunities offered in the U.S. as worth the hazards involved in the journey northward. The shift jibes with other recent numbers showing migrant arrests at the U.S. southern border dropping dramatically.

Over the last two months, the agency has received requests from migrants seeking to return to Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and other countries, Alberto Cabezas, spokesman for IOM in Mexico, said. He did not elaborate on the reasons behind the increase.

Israel Ibarra, a researcher with the Mexican think tank COLEF, said the increase reflects the sharply limited legal pathways now faced by migrants waiting in Mexico.

“There’s no options for them,” he said.

Starting on January 20, Trump has taken a series of measures aimed at cracking down on migration, including implementing a broad ban on asylum for migrants encountered at the southern border and ending some legal pathways for migrants to enter the U.S.

The abrupt termination of one such humanitarian parole program, known as CBP One, left thousands of migrants from around the world suddenly stranded in Mexico with few, if any, legal pathways to reach the U.S.

About 20 migrants in Mexico told Reuters that since CBP One ended on January 20 they've sought to return to their home countries, but lack the money or documents to do so. Some don't have valid passports, required for boarding international flights.

Many migrants fear staying in Mexico due to the risks of assault, kidnapping, and extortion by powerful organized crime groups that prey on migrants.

IOM is only able to help repatriate a fraction of the people who request help getting home. In February, the agency helped some 330 migrants across the region return to their home countries, according to IOM data shared with Reuters.

The National Migration Institute (INM) did not respond to requests for comment.

Josybeth, a 37-year-old Venezuelan woman stranded in northern Mexico, said that now that the legal pathways to enter the U.S. are closed, she'd rather return to Venezuela than stay in Mexico. But she said her and her children's passports were expired and they didn't have enough money to pay for the long journey.

"I never wanted to live here in Mexico," she said. "I want to go back."

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; editing by Laura Gottesdiener, Christian Plumb and Michael Perry)