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 / Modified aug 12, 2019 10:22 a.m.

Mexico offers legal aid to migrants arrested in Mississippi raids

Mexican citizens who are deported will receive help in obtaining work, health care and schooling, the country's foreign relations secretary said. by Jorge Valencia, Fronteras Desk

MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials say they’re offering legal assistance to Mexican citizens detained as part of a broad-sweeping immigration enforcement operation in food processing plants in Mississippi on Wednesday.

Mexican consular officials from Houston; Little Rock, Arkansas; and New Orleans traveled to central Mississippi to offer legal help to 107 Mexican citizens in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said in a news conference in Mexico City.

Officials had arrested 680 people working without documentation but more than 300 had been released by Thursday morning, the Associated Press reported.

Mexican citizens who are deported will receive help in obtaining work, health care and schooling, Ebrard said.

Mexico’s federal migration agency has offered assistance to returning migrants for years under a program known as "Welcome Countryperson," or "Bienvenido Paisano" in Spanish, though with limited reach.

Ebrard did not specify whether consular officials would offer assistance to children of people in custody.

Fronteras Desk
This story is from the Fronteras Desk, a collaboration of Southwestern public radio stations, including NPR 89.1. Read more from the Fronteras Desk.
MORE: Fronteras Desk, Immigration, Law Enforcement, Mexico, News
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