The Mexican government is building massive tent cities as it scrambles to respond to President Donald Trump’s new deportation policies.
The tents are being built in the city of Ciudad Juarez and are expected to be constructed by the end of the week. They will have the capacity to house thousands of returning Mexican nationals.
Authorities at the site will provide migrants with food, temporary housing, medical care, and assistance in obtaining identity documents.
The government will also have a fleet of buses at the ready to transport migrants back to their hometowns.
President Trump has promised the “largest mass deportation operation” in US history, claiming as many as 20 million illegals will have to be removed from the US.
On Monday, President Trump ended the program known as CBP One, which allowed migrants in Mexico to enter the US legally using a government app. On Tuesday, the Trump admin reinstated the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy, under which non-Mexican migrants must wait in Mexico for their cases to be resolved.
According to Reuters, some Mexican officials are worried the country is not ready to accept hundreds of thousands or even millions of returning migrants.
Jose Luis Perez, director of migration issues for Tijuana, was fired from his job on Tuesday after saying the government “isn’t coordinated to receive them [migrants].”
“Mexico will do everything necessary to care for its compatriots, and will allocate whatever is necessary to receive those who are repatriated,” Mexico’s Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez said on Monday during a press conference.