Asylum applications in Mexico have soared 150% since Trump's election
Source: Guardian
More Central American migrants are seeking refuge in Mexico rather than take their chances in the US after Trump vowed to crack down on deportation
Nina Lakhani in Mexico City and agencies
Tuesday 18 April 2017 17.32 EDT
The number of people applying for asylum in Mexico has soared by more than 150% since Donald Trump was elected US president, as more Central American migrants seek refuge in Mexico rather than take their chances in the United States.
Mexico’s refugee agency (Comar) received 5,421 asylum applications between November 2016 and March, a 150% rise from the same period the previous year.
The number of detentions along the south-western US border has fallen about 4% over the same five-month period, as Trump’s tough immigration proposals sent a chill through neighbouring countries.
Like the vast majority of Mexico’s asylum applicants, many of those detained on the US border come from the violence-plagued “Northern Triangle” of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/18/trump-mexico-asylum-applications-soar
