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Asylum in the U.S. is now out of reach for many migrants, so they are turning to the asylum system in Mexico as their Plan B.
The end of CBP One stripped many migrants and asylum seekers of hope. After months of fruitlessly clicking on the app to secure one of the 1,450 slots, their dreams of entering the U.S. legally were shattered. Many migrants have refused to cross illegally, fearing deportation.
Thousands of migrants find themselves stranded in Mexico, so they've opted for the second-best thing.
Rachel Schimdtke, senior advocate for Latin America at Refugees International, said that “people who may have not originally had Mexico as a destination country, are now, 'well, you know, I can apply for asylum here.' ”
In Mexico City, more than 3,000 people have camped at COMAR, the Mexican Refugee Agency.
Daniel Mendez, who intended to seek asylum in the U.S. with his wife, recalibrated his plans, and he stood among them. He has been in Mexico for several months and was able to find a room there with his wife. “What we need is paperwork to make more money." The couple has relatives still in Cuba who need them to send money.
In January, applications for asylum in Mexico more than tripled compared to the previous year’s monthly average. Hundreds of migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and other nations even farther away, like Afghanistan, have lined up outside Mexico’s refugee agency, hoping for a legal pathway.
For Schmidtke, there were several issues. “There's not many other avenues for people to be able to work legally in the country,” she explained, adding that most of these people could secure visas to stay and work.
According to IOM, the UN Migration Agency, Mexico faces a labor shortage of 5 million workers, and migrants could fill those jobs. New visas could be a solution for those who want a job in Mexico.
Schmidtke added that the Mexican asylum system has been very generous. But funding is still limited, “And the other challenge," she explained, "is that with aid freezes and things, it's unclear yet how that will affect ... international organizations that the asylum system relies on, like the [UN Refugee Agency].”
For Venezuelan migrants, Mexico offers a better chance than the struggles they faced in South America. Many fled to Ecuador, Chile, or Colombia, only to encounter economic hardships, lack of legal status, and anti-immigrant policies.
For many, Mexico wasn’t the dream — but for now, it’s the only option.
