U.S. begins flying Mexican deportees home

SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. government has begun flying Mexican deportees home in a two-month experiment aimed at relieving border cities overwhelmed by large numbers of people ordered to leave the United States, some falling prey to criminal gangs.

The flights will run twice a week from El Paso, Texas, to Mexico City until Nov. 29, when the two governments will evaluate the results and decide whether to continue. The first flight left Tuesday with 131 Mexicans aboard.

The flights are not voluntary, unlike a previous effort from 2004 to 2011 to deport Mexicans arrested by the Border Patrol during Arizona's deadly summer heat. The U.S. government will pay for the flights, and the Mexican government will pay to return people from Mexico City to their hometowns.

Mexico's foreign relations secretary said more than 2,400 passengers will be flown to Mexico City in the next two months. Those from Mexico's northern border states are not eligible.

The experiment comes as Mexican cities along the border are grappling with large numbers of deportees who have no roots, few job prospects and sometimes limited Spanish. Many arrive in cities among the hardest hit by organized crime in Mexico, particularly across the border from Texas in the state of Tamaulipas.

"The newly repatriated, often with no means to return home, are susceptible to becoming part of criminal organizations as a means of survival," said Gustavo Mohar, Mexico's interior undersecretary for population, migration and religious affairs.

A U.S. official said the flights "will better ensure that individuals repatriated to Mexico are removed in circumstances that are safe and controlled."-- AP