Migrants in shelters in the Mexican city of Tijuana, on the border with the United States, expressed concern and uncertainty on Monday about a possible victory for Republican candidate Donald Trump, recalling the measures he promoted during his previous administration (2017-2021).
The concern is especially noticeable among asylum seekers who will soon be admitted to the United States, as they do not know whether their cases will move forward or be blocked after the 2024 US Presidential election, given that many had a waiting period of up to 10 months.
Trump, strict with migrants
Jorge, who decided to be named this way for security reasons, is originally from the Mexican state of Guerrero, where he left more than a year ago due to the violence in his hometown.
“There is always dissatisfaction with everything Trump has said about migrants, and if that is the case, and he was to win, I imagine that things have to be done in accordance with the law, to be well off there, so that they don’t deport you,” he told Media.
Trump, he said, “can certainly be tougher on immigration.”
“It has been a difficult journey for us, it has been more than a year and a month since we left our town, but now, according to the law, we have the appointment, thank God, and we are almost ready to leave. The process we are in took us a long time, we wanted to do things right and not cross illegally,” he stressed.
Coming to the US regardless of who is elected
For his part, Javier, a migrant originally from Honduras who left four months ago fleeing crime and threats from gangs, told media that his main objective is to reach the United States and once there fight to establish himself, regardless of whether Trump or his rival, Democrat Kamala Harris, wins.
“We always think about being there, in the United States, regardless of the elections, we think that this (deportations) will not happen to us, nor will they kick us out, God willing everything will be fine,” he said.
He added that, although they don’t know who will win, regarding what Trump has said about migrants and deportations, he accepted that “it does make one think, it makes one worried because we travel from our country to here and I imagine that he has to support us, that’s what I think.”
The US “does not want” to deport migrants
“Trump has been very tough, he has thought of a mass deportation, and the problem is that in the United States, there is a division of migrants because there are some who are already 30 or 40 years old and they have been working and contributing to social security, with which the US government supports its elderly,” he said.
The pastor said that it is not in the United States’ interest to deport these migrants, because they will be left without resources to support the elderly “and in addition to that, they will have to make an evaluation of their economy because that also involves the inflation in which the American economy is submerged.”
“Much will depend on the decision made between the effects of migration or the economy, and the same will happen with Kamala Harris because she is promising something that she will not be able to fulfill, especially if she does not have a majority in the Senate, so she would have to negotiate very well with the Republicans for immigration reform and that will be very difficult,” he concluded.
