Deportees should not be put in danger

Illegal ImmigrationA US pilot program that sends illegal immigrants from Mexico to Mexico City rather than dumping them in dangerous border areas is one that is good for both nations.

United States immigration officials started deporting a number of illegal immigrants from Mexico to their country’s capital last month in a humanitarian effort to try to avoid having them deported to unstable border areas such as the likes of Tamaulipas, which are often besieged by violence.  The pilot program, which will run for two months, appears to be an intelligent and responsible revision of the current immigration policy for deportation, which could actually bolster border security in addition to saving lives.  Should it prove to be as effective as is hoped, the pilot program will then be extended.

With this temporary initiative, the US will pay around $1.1 million in order to fly those being deported from El Paso in Texas to Mexico City in Mexico.  Mexico will then be responsible for shouldering the cost of bus fares to take them back to their home towns in the country’s interior, as well as giving them food while they are traveling.

Although some critics might argue that the safety of illegal immigrants is Mexico’s problem, and that the cost should not be paid by the United States, experts believe that such an attitude is short-sighted.  By repatriating illegal immigrants further from the border and closer to their homes this both protects and discourages them from attempting to immediately cross back over to the United States.