MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is creating a cellphone app that may permit migrants to warn family members and native consulates in the event that they suppose they’re about to be detained by the U.S. immigration division, a senior official mentioned Friday.
The transfer is in response to President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to hold out mass deportations after he takes workplace on Jan. 20.
The app has been rolled out for small-scale testing and “appears to be working very well,” mentioned Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico’s secretary of overseas affairs.
He mentioned the app would permit customers to press a tab that will ship an alert notification to beforehand chosen family members and the closest Mexican consulate. De la Fuente described it as a form of panic button.
“In case you find yourself in a situation where detention is imminent, you push the alert button, and that sends a signal to the nearest consulate,” he mentioned.
U.S. authorities are obliged to offer discover to home-country consulates when a overseas citizen is detained. Mexico says it has beefed up consular workers and authorized support to assist migrants within the authorized course of associated to deportation.
De la Fuente expects the app to be rolled out in January. He didn’t say whether or not the app has a de-activation tab that will permit somebody to rescind an alert in the event that they weren’t actually detained.
The federal government says it has additionally arrange a name middle staffed 24 hours a day to reply migrants’ questions.
The Mexican authorities estimates there are 11.5 million migrants with some type of authorized residency in the US, and 4.8 million with out authorized residency or correct paperwork.
Initially Revealed: December 27, 2024 at 12:29 PM EST
