Scared to Stay in Mexico, Afraid of Trump’s Policies, Some Migrants Look to Return Home

Every day, Nidia Montenegro spends hours checking her cellphone, hoping to receive a long-awaited appointment with U.S. border officials to seek asylum in the United States.

The 52-year-old Venezuelan migrant in Mexico says she fears her appointment will not come before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, when he has vowed to scrap a slew of programs that have allowed migrants to enter the U.S. legally – including the government app that Montenegro is using to try and get her appointment.

That could leave thousands of migrants like Montenegro in limbo and facing the choice of trying to cross into the U.S. illegally, staying in Mexico, or returning home.

Given those options, Montenegro says she would return home, more fearful of the violence she has encountered while traveling through Mexico than the hardship she left behind in Venezuela.

“I am traumatized. If I don’t get the appointment, I will go back,” she said, disheartened.

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A dozen migrants interviewed in Mexico by Reuters said they would prefer to return to their countries despite the ongoing issues that drove them to migrate, such as poverty, lack of employment, insecurity, and political crises.

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The violence in Mexico weighs heavily on any decision.

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Organized crime has established extensive human trafficking networks across Mexico, making the journey north through the country treacherous. {snip}

Many migrants are extorted, beaten, raped, forced to commit crimes, and even killed. {snip}

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“I cry every day and ask God to take me back, I don’t want to be here anymore… this is horrible,” said Yuleidi Moreno, a Venezuelan migrant who fears staying in Mexico. {snip}

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