Mexico braces for Trump’s deportation policy

Mexico is starting to seriously contemplate the possibility that millions of its people could be deported from the Unites States, and with some considerable concern, Aljazeera has reported.

Under proposals put forward by President-elect Donald Trump, Mexico could see millions of people streaming back with no jobs available; the country might lose some of the billions of dollars in remittances sent home annually; and some jobless deportees could swell the ranks of drug cartels, sparking more violence.

At least a million Guerrero residents live in the United States, many without proper documents, and the state is already reeling from drug gang violence, high unemployment and poverty.

“Of course Guerrero is not in any condition to receive the million or more than one million migrants” in the US, Governor Hector Astudillo of the southern state of Guerrero told the Associated Press news agency.

“On the contrary, they have been an important mainstay in supporting the economy of Guerrero.”

Migrant workers sent home almost $25 billion in remittances to Mexico in 2015, and experts say most of that went to support the most basic needs of the poorest Mexicans.

Trump has suggested he might somehow seize the funds of those immigrants who are not deported to pay for a border wall.

Even if Trump seems to be walking back the idea of mass deportations, the prospect remains frightening for people in Mexico.

On Sunday, Trump said in an interview on the news program “60 Minutes” that “what we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, a lot of these people – probably two million, it could be three million – and getting them out of our country.”