The Mexican government has allocated more military resources to controlling migration than to almost any other security task, including the fight against drug trafficking, according to documents released by Mexico’s Secretary of Defense (SEDENA).
The information, obtained by the hacking group Guacamaya and provided to the Mexican newspaper Animal Político, shows that of the 82,393 total soldiers deployed in Mexico in 2021, 13,663 were intended for migration-related operations. In a stark comparison, only 3,887 were used for “drug eradication and interception.”
In addition, 982 soldiers were assigned to the surveillance of the national territory and airspace, 1969 to the fight against oil smuggling, 3600 to patrol election facilities and 873 soldiers were used for customs control. Thousands of other soldiers also perform other roles throughout the military.
Following a decree issued by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, SEDENA controls 21 border customs offices and 13 interior offices out of 50 that are currently active.
The only two security assignments that exceeded the number of officials for migration operations were 16,419 soldiers used for “peacebuilding operations” and 32,217 deployed to help with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mexico’s Militarized View of Migration
On June 24, 2019, the head of SEDENA, General Luis Cresencio Sandoval, confirmed that the Mexican armed forces and national guard were committed to preventing migrants from crossing into the United States.
As of January 2022, the Mexican government had deployed 28,397 officers to execute “migration and development” on its northern and southern borders, accompanying 13,663 Army troops, 906 Navy sailors and 13,828 National Guard migration troops to the country that controls.
According to the data of the government of Mr. Lopez Obrador, between September 2021 and June 2022, Mexican armed forces arrested 345,584 undocumented migrants, 200,000 migrants more than in the third year of the president’s administration and a 126% increase.
The militarization of Mexico’s immigration policy has permeated both immigration detention, where the armed forces have developed an increasing role, and the offices of the National Institute of Migration (INM) itself, where 19 of INM’s 32 state branches. are under the control of the army.
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