El Salvador, U.S. planes full of deportees arrives weekly

*Organizations working on behalf of returnees are doing their part *U.S. immigration authorities have reported dozens of arrests of Salvadorians

Transcript

00:00And more on the migration crisis.

00:02Mass deportations from the United States are a reality in El Salvador, however, the government

00:07has not revealed any plan to deal with an eventual mass return of migrants.

00:12From San Salvador, our correspondent Roberto Hugo-Presa with the details.

00:20As every week, planes from the United States arrive at Monsenor Romero Airport full of

00:25deportees.

00:26There are officially no figures, but it is certain that deportations will increase in

00:30the coming weeks without any state plan for returnees being known.

00:36El Salvador has 210,000 deportation orders for Salvadoran citizens who are living in

00:41the United States with or without residency.

00:47We also have a considerable number of Salvadorans who are requesting asylum and have an appointment

00:51in court and when they get to court they are going to be told no.

01:00This implies that the profile of deportees coming in the coming weeks is different from

01:04the traditional ones, warn migration experts.

01:10They may be older people with chronic illnesses, people who have lived 30, 40 years in the

01:15United States, who have never settled their situation and who are already accustomed to

01:19a reality different from that of El Salvador.

01:22Therefore, the impact which they are going to have on this reintegration process is extremely

01:26complicated.

01:33In the face of this bleak outlook, organizations working on behalf of returnees are doing their

01:38part.

01:39The Integration Center for Migrant Workers, for example, runs support programs that include

01:43psychological help, training, community organization and seed capital for entrepreneurship.

01:51And many families that we have supported have improved their basic basket of goods, their

01:56access to basic services.

01:57So, we see that they even have the possibility of some, so to speak, some leisure activities.

02:03So, this has improved at different levels, not only at an economic level, but also at

02:07a psychosocial level for families and communities.

02:16Iris is one of the beneficiaries and says she would not attempt to risk her life and

02:20the lives of her children once again on the so-called death route.

02:27Because what we went through was not easy and, as I said, I almost lost my son's life

02:32and if we had a second chance, I don't think I would waste it like that, with ups and downs,

02:36but as I said, I have my business, I am with my children and I know we can get ahead here.

02:47Although no mass deportations have been officially registered so far, U.S. immigration authorities

02:52have reported dozens of arrests of Salvadorans who will sooner or later be repatriated.