US dumping hundreds of migrants in dangerous Mexican border town

Expelled are being targeted by organised crime it is claimed

US immigration officials have been accused of using Covid-19 as an excuse for dumping hundreds of undocumented migrants in a remote Mexican border town. (ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images)

US immigration officials have been accused of using Covid-19 as an excuse for dumping hundreds of migrants in a dangerous Mexican border town.

Observers say that US Border Patrol has dropped off large numbers of undocumented immigrants in Sasabe, which has limited resources to cope, according to The Intercept.

In leaving immigrants in the Sonoran Desert town, US officials are “placing individuals at significant risk of being targeted by organised criminal groups.”

The town of 2,500 people, which is a border crossing into Arizona, has no migrant shelter and The Intercepts says, “the influence and power of organised crime in the area is well known.”

Dora Rodriguez, a Tucson-based humanitarian aid volunteer, told The Intercept that between 100 and 120 people were being dropped off every day.

“We believe that Border Patrol is getting away with these horrible deportation numbers because no one knows,” said Ms Rodriguez.

“It is really easy for them to just dump people there and that’s it. Nobody says anything.”

Observers say that after a March coronavirus order by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Border Patrol began rapidly expelling migrants.

“We totally didn’t expect this,” said humanitarian volunteer Gail Kocourek, who has worked for years in the Sasabe area.

“We’ve got hungry people being dumped into this community by the hundreds. It’s just tremendous right now. I’ve never seen so much activity in that area.”

Adding to the danger of the situation is the record-breaking heat seen in Arizona this year.

More human remains have been found on the smuggling routes through the Arizona desert than at any time since 2013, according to reports.

So far in 2020 the Pima County medical examiner’s office says that it has seen 181 cases of suspected migrant deaths.

And with more than two months remaining this year the existing record of 224 migrant deaths in 2010 could be passed.

Official government figures show that since the coronavirus-based “Title 42 Expulsions” were introduced in March “in the interest of public health” more than 197,000 immigrants have been expelled along the southern border.

Title 42 quickly allows officials to return migrants, even those claiming asylum, back to their country of entry or origin on health grounds.