Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Mexican citizens of “more severe application of migration controls” in the United States after anti-deportation protests over a woman convicted of felony identity theft was sent back to Mexico.
The Mexican agency referenced the Thursday deportation of 36-year-old Mexican citizen Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, who was arrested in 2008 and convicted of the crime, according to the Los Angeles Times. She had been in the midst of deportation proceedings in Arizona prior to the Thursday immigration enforcement action that led to her deportation. The agency stated that this action “illustrates the new reality of the Mexican community living in the United States in the face of more severe application of migration controls.”
Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto made an appearance with Mexican citizens deported from the U.S. this week as they returned to the Mexico City airport. The Times reported that Nieto had seen sagging approval numbers until a slight rise after a scheduled meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump last month gave Nieto a small approval boost.
U.S. immigration officials in the greater Los Angeles area arrested around 160 individuals in the past week in what a spokesman affirmed were “routine” immigration enforcement actions. The majority were male, according to the Washington Post, and the enforcement actions targeted criminal illegal aliens.
Immigration activists advocating on behalf of those residing illegally in the United States have seized on the story of Rayos, driving up unrest among illegal aliens and sparking protests. Fear-inducing social media communications online and varied accounts of enforcement actions led a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson to make an statement as to the routine nature of the actions, an uncharacteristic move to take while a wave of enforcement actions is ongoing.
Rayos’ deportation was made the face of the recent enforcement actions in the U.S. as her case made headlines, according to the Times. The deportation of Rayos fueled protests against immigration enforcement.
Rayos’ case “underwent review at multiple levels of the immigration court,” according to an ICE statement cited in the Times. That review determined that she lacked legal basis to remain in the country.
“Reports of ICE checkpoints and sweeps are false, dangerous and irresponsible,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials told Breitbart Texas. Despite claims from anti-immigration enforcement activists that ICE is conducting uncharacteristic mass raids by the hundreds in at least six states, only 44 criminal illegal aliens were detained in Texas this week as a part of Operation Cross Check.
The Times added that in Austin, Texas, a teachers’ union sent its members instructions on “What to do if ICE comes to your door.” Recommendations included not opening the door and staying silent. One school district spokesman stated that some teachers may have given the document to students.
Mexican politicians have recently been seen traveling to Mexican communities within the U.S., as well as with deported persons returned to Mexico. The Mexico Ministry of Foreign Affairs encouraged those that could be deported from the U.S. to maintain contact with the Mexican consular network in the U.S.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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