Mexico has virtually emptied facilities holding illegal immigrants and deported the people out of concern they could spread the coronavirus to one another while in custody.
Since March 21, the government removed migrants from its 65 migrant facilities, which held 3,759 people last month, according to Reuters.
“Today, Mexico’s policy is to contain and deport,” Victor Clark Alfaro, an immigration expert at San Diego State University, told the outlet.
Many of the migrants in Mexico come from “southern triangle countries,” which include El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Mexican officials said they returned 3,653 migrants to those countries since the outbreak began.
Only 106 people remain in the centers, the government said.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced it was using broadened authority under the national emergency sparked by the coronavirus to deport or expel a record number of migrants being held by federal authorities.
