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Mexico is developing an app that will allow migrants in the U.S. who face deportation to alert their family members and local U.S. consulates if authorities are about to detain them, a senior official said Friday. He added that his government plans to ensure that every Mexican citizen receives due process in the US before potentially being deported.
The app, called the “Alert Button,” was designed in anticipation of mass deportations of illegal migrants expected to occur after President-elect Trump he took the oath of office on January 20. The cornerstone of Trump’s second term in office is to secure the border and implement the largest mass deportation program the US has ever seen.
Many Mexican citizens who are in the US illegally are likely to be targeted by the new Trump administration. The Mexican government there are an estimated 11.5 million migrants with some form of legal residence in the United States and 4.8 million without legal residence or proper documentation.
Migrants near the Rio Grande River along the US-Mexico border in Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, on December 18, 2024, left. Migrant checks his phone, right. (David Peinado/Bloomberg, left, Luis Boza/VIEWpress/Corbis via Getty Images, right.)
The new app, which should be available in January, will allow users to tap a card to send an alert notification to pre-selected relatives and the nearest Mexican consulate, of which there are 53 in the US.
“In case you find yourself in a situation where detention is unavoidable, you press the alarm button and it sends a signal to the nearest consulate,” said Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente.
He said it was already up and running for a bit of testing and “seems to be working very well”.
De la Fuente described it as a sort of panic button, adding that his office has beefed up its consular staff by hiring “329 legal representatives” to ensure that Mexicans facing deportation are given due process and are properly informed of their rights before potential removal.
President-elect Trump has promised to secure the border and implement the largest mass deportation program the US has ever seen. (AP Photo/Rick Scooteri)
US authorities are required to notify home country consulates when a foreign national is detained. Mexico says it has beefed up consular staff and legal aid assistance to migrants in the legal process related to deportation.
The government says it has also set up a 24-hour call center to answer migrants’ questions and help educate them about their rights before “possible arrests or other intimidating actions”.
De la Fuente said in a statement that the Mexican government will defend the human rights of its citizens in the US in strict accordance with international law.
“We want to tell our compatriots that they are not alone and will not be alone,” he said, repeating that there is a consular network that is up to the task.
The Foreign Secretary said deporting someone from the US requires a court order or removal order and that his consular team would be “very careful to ensure due process is followed”.
Trump has already clashed with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum over immigration and proposed 25% tariffs on imported goods from Mexico due to the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs. Sheinbaum said such a move could lead to a trade war between the countries and insisted her government has already clamped down on migrants crossing into the US
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum addresses supporters in Mexico City on October 1. She clashed with President-elect Trump over immigration. (AP/Fernando Llano)
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Under the Biden-Harris administration, the US has recorded an unprecedented number of illegal migrants crossing its borders. Number of illegal immigrants on ICE’s non-detainer list has exploded to nearly 7.7 million, more than double what it was when Trump left office. At the end of the fiscal year 2020, it amounted to 3.2 million.
ICE’s annual report released in October shows that ICE deported 271,484 illegal immigrants to 192 different countries in fiscal year 2024. Of those, 32.7% had a criminal record and 237 were known or suspected terrorists.
This is a significant increase compared to more than 142,000 deported in FY 23 and about 72,000 in FY 2022. In FY 2020, the last year of the Trump administration and which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, there were about 185,000 deportations, and in FY 2019 .there were 267,000 deportations.
Adam Shaw of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
