Nearly two million people have been deported from the United States since 2009. Most of these migrants are Mexicans who are deported to Mexican border cities. Certain deportation practices are putting migrants at risk of being kidnapped, extorted, and even killed by drug cartels and criminal groups operating along the border.
These unsafe deportation practices include returning migrants in the middle of the night and deporting migrants to Mexican border cities with high levels of violence and criminal activity.
This video was made while visiting a migrant’s shelter in Matamoros—a city in Mexico across from Brownsville, Texas. Matamoros is plagued with drug-related violence, and at times drug cartels prey on deported migrants because they are particularly vulnerable and identifiable. In spite of the security risks, deportations to Matamoros, for example, have increased five-fold in the last four years.
Watch this WOLA video about unsafe deportation practices.
Click here to learn more about four deportation practices that put migrants in danger.
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This video was made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation, “Working with Visionaries on the Frontlines of Social Change Worldwide.”
