CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (AP) — The Trump administration has deported nearly 13,000 individuals from Cuba, Venezuela, and other nations to Mexico. According to a Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday, these deportees face danger from cartel violence in a foreign country.
While Mexico has accepted such deportations for years, those deported under the current U.S. administration are older and have lived longer in the U.S., making it difficult for them to find jobs and increasing the urgency for medical care.
The report, based on over 50 interviews in Tapachula and Villahermosa in southern Mexico, coincides with President Trump’s extensive immigration raids. Immigrants, including Cubans who have lived in the U.S. for years, are targeted in these raids. Due to restrictions from countries like Cuba and Venezuela on deportation flights, deportees are sent to Mexico or other countries with U.S. agreements.
“Imagine being 60 or 70 years old, uprooted overnight and sent to a country unknown to you, where authorities leave you without access to basic services, such as shelter and medical care,” explained Alcira Hava, a Leonard H. Sandler fellow at Human Rights Watch. She worked on compiling the report. “That is the reality for many Cubans deported to Mexico,” added Hava.
Cubans form the largest group sent to Mexico, with over 4,300 deportees as per the report. More than half of the 41 Cubans interviewed had lived in the U.S. since the 1980s or 1990s, arriving during the Mariel exodus or the lottery program. Most had lost their permanent residency card. Although over half had criminal records, only 16% were for violent crimes, according to the investigators.
Most were detained during routine checks by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while some were arrested at workplaces or in public spaces. None were brought before a judge to challenge their deportation to Mexico, even when they expressed safety concerns.
The Cuban diaspora, with access to a quick path to U.S. residence and citizenship via the Cuban Adjustment Act, has been rattled by Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In Mexico, these deportees head to southern cities with limited job prospects and access to healthcare, where cartels prey on them. They face a complex process to obtain refugee status in Mexico, and many fail to qualify. A shelter in Villahermosa has seen Cuban deportees aged up to 83, differing from the young men and families it typically serves, noted Josué Leal, a shelter worker.
“The U.S. discards them. Cuba discards them,” said Leal, calling it “a double punishment.”
Details on deportations to third countries are unclear, as neither the U.S. nor Mexico have made their agreement public. HRW urged both countries to disclose the agreement, ensuring due process and international rights are upheld in these cases.
HRW also urged Mexico to guarantee access to medical treatment and paths to regularize the immigration status of those unable to return to their home countries. The U.S. was urged to suspend these deportations unless such guarantees exist.
This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative AI tool.