Mexico announces repatriation program for illegal immigrants arrested in Arizona

June 3rd, 2010 - 5:11 am ICT by BNO News  

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) — Mexico’s ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that the 2010 Voluntary Repatriation Program has started on Tuesday for those those who want to return to Mexico.

Those who volunteer to participate in the program are flown to Mexico City via daily flights coordinated by the U.S. government from Tucson International Airport and provided bus transportation to their hometowns in the interior of Mexico.

The program was designed in 2004 as a bilateral effort between the United States and Mexico to reduce the loss of human life and combat organized crime linked to the smuggling, trafficking and exploitation of persons.

Under the program, Mexican nationals apprehended in U.S. Border Patrol’s Yuma and Tucson Sectors are taken to DHS facilities in Nogales and Yuma, Ariz., where candidates are medically screened, meet with officials from Mexican Consulate and are offered the opportunity to voluntarily participate in the program.

In 2009, a total of 10,561 Mexican citizens participated in the program, which is working since 2004.

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