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The Trump medication has deported astir 13,000 Cubans, Venezuelans and different nationals to Mexico, wherever they are susceptible to cartel unit successful an unfamiliar country, a study by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released connected Wednesday (May 27, 2026) said.
While Mexico has accepted these types of deportations for years, the deportees nether the Trump medication are older and person lived successful the U.S. for longer than successful the past, making it much hard for them to find enactment and expanding the urgency of the request for aesculapian care.
The report, which is based connected much than 50 interviews successful the confederate Mexican cities Tapachula and Villahermosa, comes arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump has expanded migration enforcement to transportation retired his mass deportation plan.
This has meant that immigrants who were not antecedently targeted, specified arsenic Cubans with years oregon decades surviving successful the U.S., person been caught up successful the migration dragnet. Some countries, specified arsenic Cuba and Venezuela, bounds deportation flights oregon don't judge deportees astatine all, truthful they are alternatively sent to Mexico oregon different countries with which the U.S. has struck deals.
“Imagine being 60 oregon 70 years old, uprooted from your beingness overnight and sent to a state you don't know, wherever authorities permission you retired to adust without entree to adjacent the astir basal services — shelter, healthcare. Imagine being dropped successful unsafe cities with thing but the apparel connected your back,” said Alcira Hava, Leonard H. Sandler Fellow, astatine HRW, who worked connected the report.
“That's the world for galore Cubans deported to Mexico,” Hava said. Cubans correspond the largest radical sent to Mexico, according to the report, with much than 4,300 deported. More than fractional the 41 Cubans interviewed had lived successful the U.S. since the 1980s oregon 1990s, arriving during the Mariel boatlift oregon lottery programme successful the 1990s. Most had a greenish paper but had mislaid it.
More than fractional the Cubans deported had a transgression record, but lone 16% were for convulsive crimes, according to the researchers. One-fourth had nary transgression history. Most were detained astatine regular check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but immoderate were detained astatine their workplace oregon successful nationalist spaces. None were taken earlier a justice to contention their deportation to Mexico, adjacent erstwhile they expressed fearfulness for their safety.
The Cuban diaspora, with entree to a fast-tracked pathway to residency and citizenship done the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA), has been shocked by the grade of Trump's migration crackdown. Once successful Mexico, these deportees are sent to confederate cities with fewer occupation opportunities, constricted entree to aesculapian attraction and wherever cartels prey connected them. They look a analyzable logistical process to person exile presumption successful Mexico, if they adjacent qualify.
A structure successful Villahermosa has received Cuban deportees arsenic aged arsenic 83 successful the past year, a departure from the young men and families it usually receives, according to structure idiosyncratic Josue Leal.
“The U.S. discards them. Cuba discards them,” Leal said, calling it a signifier of “double punishment.” How the 3rd state deportations are being carried retired is unclear, since neither the U.S. oregon Mexico has made the statement public. HRW called for some countries to people the statement and to guarantee that owed process and planetary instrumentality is respected successful these cases.
It called connected Mexico to guarantee entree to aesculapian attraction and a pathway to legalise migration presumption for those who can't instrumentality to their location countries. It called connected the U.S. to suspend these deportations, barring these guarantees.
