Chetumal, Quintana Roo — The number of foreign nationals demanding to regularize their immigration status in Quintana Roo is growing, according to the head of the Federal Public Defender’s Office in the state.
Roberto Agundis Yerena, the office’s delegate, said the state government is seeking mechanisms to address the needs of deported foreigners and deported Mexicans arriving in Quintana Roo, as migrant shelters have not been able to cover those demands.
Agundis noted that his office has held several meetings with the state government to highlight the steady increase in migrants arriving in the state. “So far this year we have assisted more than 120 foreign nationals deported from the United States,” he said. “Regarding everyday migration issues, many people arrive in Cancun due to various immigration situations, and that’s when we handle the regularization process.”
While a bus carrying deported Mexican nationals arrived in Quintana Roo in recent weeks, Agundis clarified that the Public Defender’s Office assists deported foreigners. “In the case of deported Mexicans, it is the state’s responsibility to find mechanisms for assistance, so they are processing their official documents,” he said.
Many Cubans, Venezuelans, and Colombians leave the United States, arrive at the detention center in Villahermosa, and then decide to travel to Cancun, where the largest concentration of deported foreigners is found, Agundis explained.
He said the Public Defender’s Office does not have contact with migrant shelters to know the conditions of the people there, but stressed that access to health care, justice, and work must be guaranteed. “In many cases they receive support from their own compatriots, as is the case with Cubans,” he said.
“That does not necessarily mean their situation is comfortable. In some cases they have work, but in others they face a very complex situation,” he added.
The public defender said the office has nine execution defenders, nine trial defenders, and five execution specialists, with the heaviest workload falling on the mixed advisory and migration area. “We have nearly 500 files of people asking to regularize their situation in various areas, from seeking refugee status to simple regularization,” Agundis said.
