Trump Sends Fewer Mexicans Back Home Despite Deportation Talk

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump sent 26 percent fewer Mexicans back home this year through November than Barack Obama did in the same period in 2016, despite vows to crack down on illegal immigration, Mexican government data show.

About 152,000 Mexican nationals were repatriated from the U.S. between January and November, according to data from Mexico's interior ministry that were first reported by Milenio newspaper. That compares with just under 205,000 in the first 11 months of 2016.

Trump, who took office Jan. 20th, has vowed to expel potentially millions of undocumented immigrants and to build a wall along the Mexican border. He also ended, at least temporarily, Obama-era protections against deportation of people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Officials at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn't immediately respond to phone messages and emails seeking comment.

The Mexican government defines repatriation as an administrative measure dictated by migration officials through which a foreign person is returned to their country of origin.

--With assistance from Rafael Gayol and Nafeesa Syeed

To contact the reporter on this story: Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vivianne Rodrigues at vrodrigues3@bloomberg.net, Walter Brandimarte

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