Under Trump, More Central American Migrants Resettling in Mexico

Migrants from Central American countries are increasingly choosing to resettle in Mexico as the Trump administration’s tough immigration enforcement policies make the U.S. a less accessible destination.

For years, Mexico has largely been a waypoint for people from the so-called Northern Triangle countries — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — who were trying to cross into the U.S. and petition for asylum. As the U.S. has cracked down on illegal immigration at the border and tightened its rules on accepting asylum claims, those migrants are now staying put in Mexico.

As a result, Mexico’s refugee applications have risen dramatically over the last three years, reports the Associated Press. It received 3,424 applications for refugee status in 2015, and the number more than doubled to 8,794 the next year. Mexico is on track to receive even more refugee applications in 2017 — there were 5,464 applications from just January to May.

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Mexico granted refugee status to about one of every three applicants from the Northern Triangle in 2016, reports the AP. The U.S., on the other hand, denies about 80 percent of asylum claims by people from those countries, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

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