[Guadalajara, Jal. June 1, 2018] In response to the surge in deportations under the Trump Administration, as well as the lack of reintegration support for returnees in their home country, The Rhizome Center for Migrants (www.rhizomecenter.org) has partnered with Mexico-based Centro Pastoral Migratoria (http://www.migrante.com.mx/guadalajara.html) to provide direct services to returning Mexicans, the single group most affected by deportations.

The charitable mission of both organizations is to offer relief and protection to forcibly displaced and uprooted people. In Guadalajara, Jalisco, their joint efforts focus on strengthening and expanding post-deportation legal and reintegration services to at-risk communities in Mexico.

“Despite the fact that more than 600 Mexicans are returned daily, efforts to reintegrate, and in some cases integrate, them back into society have fallen short,” said Father Jose Juan Cervantes, Co-Coordinator of Centro Pastoral Migratorio, whose organization belongs to the network of Casas del Migrante Scalabrini migrant shelters across Mexico and Central America. In recent years, they have seen an influx of deportees.

Current projects of the partnership include the opening of a legal support center for deportees and returnees, the first of its kind south of the border and the only legal aid clinic in Mexico devoted entirely to the needs of returning migrants. The clinic provides advice and other direct services to at-risk and vulnerable persons with urgent matters involving U.S. law.

“Deportation is a sudden, alarming event that most people don’t plan for,” said Tran Dang, founder of The Rhizome Center for Migrants. “Through the clinic’s outreach efforts, the greater returned community also benefits from accurate and reliable immigration information regarding the possibility of legal return and family unification in the United States.”

While the two organizations have concentrated their efforts in Guadalajara, their networks extend throughout Mexico and the United States. Their ability to organize on both sides of the border gives them an edge as they work to restore compassion and respect for family unity, as well as the rights of deportees.