EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The government of Mexico has published a report shedding light on how many migrants it is deporting to their countries of origin, and from which states Mexicans who the U.S. deports are coming.

Mexico deported 8,612 foreign nationals during the first three months of 2024, the Ministry of the Interior reported last week. Ninety-two percent (7,697) were deported to neighboring Guatemala and to Honduras; 437 were repatriated to Venezuela, whose citizens have shown up at the U.S. border by the thousands since 2021. No other country received more than 100 repatriated citizens from Mexico during that period.

On the other hand, the Mexican government says it issued 3,551 permanent resident cards to refugees in the first quarter of 2024. More than 3,000 went to migrants from the Northern Triangle of Central America and Cuba. Two-hundred and thirty Venezuelans who decided to stay in Mexico got the cards allowing them to work.

Part of the American and international relief organizations’ strategy to address the root causes of migration consists of Mexico being able to absorb at least some refugees. Border cities longing for labor for manufacturing plants filling orders for U.S. automotive, medical and electronic industries could fill that role, American officials suggest.

But Mexicans themselves are the largest nationality of migrants illegally crossing into the United States between ports of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows.

A total of 579,146 Mexican nationals were apprehended in fiscal year 2023 along the Southwest border. Through March 31 of the current fiscal year, border agents had encountered 304,510 Mexicans who crossed illegally, the data shows. In 2023, most were single adults, but the number of Mexican family units crossing the border is rising in 2024.

Mexico reports that from Jan. 1 to March 31 it has documented the return of 47,659 of its citizens from U.S. authorities. The Interior Ministry says 13,392 were dropped off in Tijuana, 9,534 in Nuevo Laredo, 8,755 in Nogales and 3,572 in Juarez.

The ministry’s report shows most are from states where at least one in three residents live in poverty – Chiapas, Oaxaca, Mexico State, Puebla, Mexico City, etc. Another 15,549 came from Michoacan, Guerrero, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Zacatecas and Tamaulipas, states ravaged by drug cartel wars.

“Right now, the most numerous nationality we see here are Mexicans,” said Enrique Valenzuela, head of the Chihuahua Population Council that runs Juarez’s Migrant Assistance Center. “We receive them, we ask about their needs, we inform them of services available. That could be medical care, referrals to a shelter, letters for employment, a meal in our kitchen, or directions to the nearest bank so they can get money from relatives.”

In Juarez, most of the Mexican migrants sent back by the U.S. are from Michoacan, Guerrero, Zacatecas and say they migrated because they “were displaced,” Valenzuela said.

Jose Luis, a Mexican interviewed last month as he prepared to cross the Rio Grande into El Paso, said the U.S. should give more citizens of Mexico the opportunity for political asylum. He said he met many foreign nationals as he made his way to the border and admits they’re more likely to be victimized by criminals.

“For those of us who know the country, it’s not that difficult, it’s safer. I was in a shelter and there were many migrants who went through kidnapping and extortion. They suffer more,” Jose Luis said, adding he wants to leave Mexico because of fear of criminals.