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The USG launched the Lateral Repatriation Program as a humanitarian response to the tragic deaths suffered by migrants attempting to cross the Arizona/Sonora desert region. It has worked: there have been no deaths in the Tucson Sector since the program was initiated on September 8. Last year in just one week (Sept. 8-15), there were a total of four deaths recorded in this deadly area. Dramatically reducing the number of migrant deaths fulfills the intent of the Lateral Repatriation Program to save lives.
The Lateral Repatriation Program is part of the Border Safety Initiative and Operation Desert Safeguard that began on June 3. Prior to initiating the program, the Tucson Sector averaged the death of one migrant per day.
The Lateral Repatriation Program is a pilot program currently scheduled through the end of September designed to remove those who have entered the United States illegally from the high-risk desert areas of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico to low-risk areas along the Texas/Mexico border.
Operation Desert Safeguard seeks to reduce the loss of life and deter smuggling organizations from sending migrants into the high-risk areas of the Arizona/Sonora desert. This area has claimed the lives of over 400 people since 1999.
This program applies only to Mexican nationals arrested in the danger zone of Sonora and Arizona. A combination of air and ground transportation is used to move the migrants to safer areas.
Since the beginning of the Lateral Repatriation Program, the US Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol has moved 2, 379 migrants from the treacherous Arizona and Sonora desert areas to the four Texas sectors (El Paso, Laredo, Del Rio, McAllen), where they are handed over to Mexican authorities who check their nationality. 96% of those moved were undocumented Mexican nationals.
The program has also had a positive deterrent effect. There was a 17% drop in the number of undocumented migrant apprehensions in the Tucson Sector since the Lateral Repatriation Program began.
As part of the early discussions with the Mexican government, the USG offered to return undocumented Mexican nationals to areas closer to their homes on a voluntary basis and at USG expense. The Mexican government rejected this component of the program.
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