Calderon Accuses US of Dumping Criminals in Mexico

Felipe Calderon delivered a scathing speech at an immigration conference yesterday accusing the US of foisting criminals off on Mexico instead of prosecuting them itself. “The American authorities have gotten into the habit of simply deporting 60 (thousand) or 70,000 migrants per year to cities like Ciudad Juarez or Tijuana,” Calderon said, according to the AP. “There are many who really are criminals … and it is cheaper to leave them on the Mexican side of the border than to prosecute them.” Calderon added that the practice has led to increased violence in Mexican border cities.

Earlier this week, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement boasted that it was deporting more convicted criminals—most of them to Mexico. These convicts had to first serve their sentences before being sent to the border and freed. US officials also say they are working on ways to warn Mexico if they’re releasing a potentially dangerous inmate there. But there are no records showing how many deportees might have been suspected of crimes and deported rather than tried. (More Mexico stories.)