Washington, Sep 25 (IANS): In a major breakthrough to solve the border crisis, the US has influenced Mexico to deport migrants from Central and South America using its soil to enter the US using its border state of Texas and California, as Democrat and Republican states struggle to maintain the unprecedented influx of migrants from nations that have become politically and economically unstable.
Mexico agreed with the US administration to deport migrants from its border cities to their home countries and take necessary action to deter migrants from using its soil in border crossings to the US, media reports said.
Mexican officials met US Customs and Border Protection officials on Friday in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, bordering El Paso, Texas, as illegal crossings spiked to the US, which has temporarily closed an international bridge and paused Mexico's main cargo train system.
The Mexico-US border pact now enables Mexico to "depressurise" its northern cities, bordering El Paso, San Diego and Eagle Pass, Texas, where the mayor has declared a state of emergency.
On the cards are also a series of measures that seek to prevent migrants from risking their lives by using trains to reach the US-Mexico border, according to Mexico's National Migration Institute.
The agreement comes close on the heels of the US Department of Defense ramping up security at the US-Mexico border with the Department of Homeland Security sending an additional force of at least 800 new active-duty personnel to join the 2,500 National Guard members already serving on the southern borders.
About 6,500 migrants have been taken into custody in El Paso, Texas as the lone star state is under pressure to handle the influx of migrants, Mayor Oscar Leeser said at the news conference on Saturday.
"We have come to what we look at (as) a breaking point right now," the mayor said.
El Paso has been receiving more than 2,000 additional migrants every day, an official said, adding the city is expecting a "large influx" over the next few days.
Migrant crossings are surpassing 8,600 over a 24-hour period this week, up from a daily average of 3,500, according to a Department of Homeland Security official.
Border arrests have become difficult after the expiration in May of the Title 42 clause that screened or blocked migrants from entering during Covid-19 phase. There were more than 8,000 apprehensions on Monday of illegal entries, media reports said.
The busiest sectors are Del Rio, El Paso, Lower Rio Grande Valley and Tucson; each facing more than 1,000 encounters over the last 24 hours, according to the official. Eagle Pass is in the Del Rio sector.
Friday's meeting was attended by Customs and Border Protection's Acting Commissioner Troy Miller, the commissioner of Mexico's National Migration Institute, the governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, members of Mexico's national defence and national guard and representatives of Ferromex, a Mexican railroad operator, according to the institute, CNN reported.
Mexican officials have promised to carry out a series of 15 actions as part of the agreement, some in coordination with Customs and Border Protection and Ferromex, which includes deporting migrants to their home countries by land and air.
Mexico said it would negotiate with the governments of Venezuela, Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia and Cuba to confirm receipt of their citizens deported from the US-Mexico border. Mexico will permit US border patrol agents to expel migrants through the Ciudad Juarez international bridge, which connects with El Paso.
Mexico had deported more than 7,88,000 migrants to their home countries from January 1 to September.