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More than 40 deportation flights logged in two weeks, US Ambassador to Mexico says

Salvador Rivera

Buses transporting migrants to board the the first deportation flight of undocumented Venezuelans after a US-Venezuelan agreement are seen as another deportation plane headed to Central America is seen flying above them in Harlingen, Texas, on October 18, 2023. The United States said on October 5, 2023 it will resume deportation flights to Venezuela after a deal with Caracas, as President Joe Biden, seeking reelection, comes under pressure to halt border crossings. Washington has for years halted sending migrants back to Venezuela due to instability in the South American nation and still maintains sanctions against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. (Photo by VERONICA G. CARDENAS / AFP) (Photo by VERONICA G. CARDENAS/AFP via Getty Images)

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The United States Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said migrants who enter the country without a valid asylum claim will continue to be deported.

Salazar said that during the last two weeks, more than 40 repatriation flights had taken place from the U.S.


The ambassador made those comments on Thursday morning in Tijuana, where he took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for a sewage treatment plant.

When pressed about the migrants’ nationalities or exact numbers, however, Salazar stated he did not have that information.

“This will continue because we have to send a message that there is a system of laws in place,” Salazar said in Spanish.

Ken Salazar is the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. (Jorge Nieto/Special for Border Report)

He urged people to continue using the CBP One app, which provides asylum-seekers with appointments at ports of entry for initial asylum screenings.

Coincidentally, Jan. 12 marks the first anniversary of the online application.

Salazar said this is the “legal” way to enter the country for those interested in asylum.

Many migrants are choosing to forgo waiting for an appointment and instead cross the border between ports of entry.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources told NewsNation correspondent Ali Bradley that since the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2023, to Jan. 5, 2020, about 806,000 people had crossed the southern border, including more than 98,000 in the San Diego Sector.

The CBP One app has issued anywhere from 1,250 to 1,450 appointments daily, according to CBP.

“CBP One is just one element, but much more is needed when it comes to the immigration theme,” said Salazar. “We are seeing historic numbers of migrants between Mexico and the United States.”

Salazar also said more needs to be done at the “root of the migration patterns” giving people an opportunity to stay in their countries of origin before they trek to the United States.

And he said a lot got done about the immigration issue during a recent meeting in Mexico City between him, other U.S. diplomats and Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Salazar told the media another round of talks is scheduled for Jan. 19 in Washington, D.C.