WORLD NEWS JANUARY 2, 2020 / 5:12 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

U.S. expands scope of program to return migrants to Mexico

Ted Hesson, Julia Love
3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will expand the scope of a program that returns non-Mexican migrants crossing Mexico’s border to that country to await their U.S. court hearings, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday.

Washington already has sent more than 56,000 migrants to Mexico under the program, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The majority have been Central Americans applying for U.S. asylum.

The effort — which had been implemented over the past year at ports of entry in Texas and California — will be applied at a port of entry south of Tucson, Ariz. Previously, migrants encountered in that area had been sent to El Paso, Texas, to process their return to Mexico.

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Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf said in a written statement on Thursday that the MPP program has been “an extremely effective tool” for the United States.

Advocates counter that the initiative exposes migrants to violence in Mexico and restricts their ability to seek protections in the United States. The U.S. consulate in Mexico’s border city of Nuevo Laredo issued a security alert on Wednesday, warning against gun battles and urging government employees to take precautions.

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