The Mexican government will open 25 new shelters to house illegal immigrants deported from the United States in preparation for a border crackdown when President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month.
Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda said in a meeting Monday that the country is taking Mr. Trump’s threat of deportation seriously, according to Nexstar’s Border Report. Five of the shelters will be in the city of Tijuana, with two others in Mexicali, the capital city in Baja.
She did not further specify the shelters’ locations.
“This is a strategic plan to accommodate exclusively people who get deported after Jan. 20,” Ms. Ávila Olmeda said.
“What we do know, throughout his campaign, he threatened to do this, and since he was already president of the United States, we believe this time he will be stricter and tougher when it comes to deportations,” she said. “We are working to get ready and receive our migrants.”
The migrants will only be able to stay in the shelters that can house up to 500 people for a few days before they will be sent back to their hometowns. Some will hold men, while others will hold women, families, and unaccompanied minors.
SEE ALSO: Advocates train immigrants to ‘prepare to stay’ in the U.S. under Trump
“These shelters are being planned are for those being repatriated who are coming from north to south, but no foreigners, only Mexicans. This must be made clear — Mexicans will be welcomed back to their country and their human rights will be respected,” Ms. Avila Olmeda said.
They are set to open Jan. 20, the day of Mr. Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president.
Mr. Trump has said previously that the border will be taken care of on Day 1 in office.
On Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked what Mr. Trump will do on the first day and she replied that Mr. Trump will “use the power of his pen to deliver on many of the promises he made to the American people on the campaign trail to secure our southern border” among other things.
When asked about specific Day 1 executive orders regarding the border, Ms. Leavitt said “perhaps looking at Title 42.”
Title 42 allowed officials to turn migrants away from the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was put in place during Mr. Trump’s first administration in 2020.
SEE ALSO: Trump takes another swipe at Panama in ambassador announcement
President Biden tried to end its use in 2022, but didn’t officially end it until May 2023.
“How we can take, again, legal executive action to immediately stop the surge of migrants that we have seen over our southern border and on day one President Trump is also going to launch the largest mass deportation of illegal criminals in American history,” Ms. Leavitt said.
“He can do that immediately by empowering federal and local law enforcement to work together to identify, to detain and to deport these illegal criminals that we know are roaming freely in our country,” she said.
Mr. Trump has already announced who will be in charge of the border during his administration, including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem whom he picked as Homeland Security secretary, and Tom Homan, who will serve as his “border czar” to carry out the mass deportation plan.
His pick for White House deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, is also an immigration hard-liner.