If Donald Trump keeps his promise and deports illegal aliens, can the Mexican government handle its returning nationals? The Mexican government claims it is ready. And if it’s telling the truth, both countries will be better off.

Directly after Election Day, Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu (right) declared Mexico was ready for mass deportations (La Incentiva Merida se acabo, Trump no construira muro: Hope, [“The Merida Initiative is Over, Trump Will Not Build Wall”], by Carlos Alvarez, ZETA, November 14, 2016). Humberto Roque Villanueva, Undersecretary of Population, Migration and Religious Matters, said the same not long afterward (México, preparado para atender deportaciones en la era Trump: Roque Villanueva, [“Mexico, ready to deal with deportations in the Trump Era: Roque Villanueva”], by Tania Rosas, Excelsior, November 24, 2016.) The Mexican immigration bureaucracy claims the same.

On my last visit to Mexico this past summer, I noticed at the Mexican border immigration station there was a new section called Repatriacones (repatriations). It wasn’t in use yet, but the sign indicated it was intended to aid Mexicans returning to Mexico.

Mexico’s government has created an agreement with the business representation group Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CEE) to reinforce the Somos Mexicanos [“We’re Mexican] program. The goal is to reintegrate Mexicans returning to Mexico, especially adolescents (Gobierno mexicano y empresarios acuerdan dar trabajo a repatriados, [“Mexican government and employers agree to give work to returnees”], La Opinión November 14, 2016]

But not everyone thinks Mexico is ready. Alejandro Hope (pictured right) a Mexican intelligence analyst who previously worked for CISEN, the Mexican CIA,  and now runs an independent think tank was quoted in the ZETA article:

We are not prepared, depending on the numbers…. The resources of the three orders of government will be greatly overwhelmed. If we could not deal with the case of the Haitians and Africans, who are a few thousand…[we can’t deal with the massive deportation by orders of Trump].

(Note one of the entries in the comments section: “If we keep letting Africans pass through [to go to the U.S.], the risk is that they stay in Mexico and Trump will not take them in.”)

Any government will hype or oversell its own programs. But even if Mexico is not ready to receive a huge influx, these would be returning Mexicans, not foreigners. They already have home towns where they can go. Despite Mexico’s continued meddling in our affairs, the government’s attempts at dealing with returnees at least shows Mexican elites are thinking about the issue and take Trump seriously.

At the forefront of these efforts is the Somos Mexicanos, “We are Mexicans,” program, hosted by the INM (Instituto National de Inmigración, the immigration bureaucracy). It was established in March 2014, long before Trump, but takes on new relevance today. The INM website even includes video testimonials of returning Mexicans who have already been helped by the program.

In July 2016, a Somos Mexicanos website page stated:

“In the INM we receive with open doors our co-nationals who were repatriated from the United States because they didn’t have legal status in that country.”

An August 29th document  describes the program’s objective “to offer to the Mexicans who have returned voluntarily and involuntarily [that is, deported or self-deported] comprehensive attention, through an inter-institutional and coordinated model that contributes in the short term to their social integration.”

A post-election post on INM’s website from December 5^th claims ¡En México hay oportunidades para los repatriados! [“In Mexico there are opportunities for the repatriated”]. Fellow Mexicans returning to their country are told they can have a “better life,” a “worthy and secure” return, and that their “abilities and knowledge” are valued:

Over 50% of the fellow Mexicans have mastered the English language. They have been professionalized in various techniques and trades, such as construction, food service industry, gardening, agriculture, livestock raising, among others, with the special characteristic of having a high adaptability to work schemes. [Links added]

Work experience will be used to “reintegrate them to the economic life of Mexico.” This shows the program is designed to help people returning to live—not just visit.

Somos Mexicanos offers the following to returning Mexicans.

1. Identity documents
2. Seguro Popular [a Mexican government medical program].
3. “Free phone calls to communicate with their families.”
4. “Local transportation and support for cross-country transport” [to get them back to wherever they are from in Mexico].
5. “Work options”
6. “…more support when they arrive to their community of origin”.

Here’s hoping! Although this is easier said than done.  At least the Mexican government has a plan. But a lot could go wrong.

1. Corrupt Mexican officials could siphon off funds they receive to maintain the program.
2. The Mexican government might lose interest in the program and reduce funding.
3. The program might be overwhelmed by the quantity of deportees.

If Trump is serious about following his promises, there will be pressure on all of Mexican society, not just the government, to receive the deportees. But if Mexico actually attempts to help its countrymen in good faith, the country will be able to meet the challenge.

Any deportations are unlikely to happen all at once so Mexico should not be overwhelmed. The ideal and least-disruptive scenario for both countries would be a steady stream of deportations and self-deportations, with the bulk of the illegal aliens gradually but steadily making their way back to Mexico and eventually arriving at their destinations throughout the country.

As for the overall effect on Mexico, well, yes, it’s going to take a lot of adjustment. It could affect Mexico’s economy, its culture and maybe even its politics.

The Main Stream Media often describes Mexico as a poverty-stricken country. But by world standards, Mexico has a large GDP and a high average income and standard of living. Deportations will force Mexico to use its assets more wisely.

There will be hysterical shrieking from Open Borders activists stateside. But the Trump immigration program is the right thing. It will force Mexico to be more responsible—to its own people, as well to the U.S.

And in the long run, that’s good for both countries.

American citizen Allan Wall (email him) moved back to the U.S.A. in 2008 after many years residing in Mexico. Allan's wife is Mexican, and their two sons are bilingual. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here ; his News With Views columns are archived here; and his website is here.