Almost 16,000 Cubans intercepted by Mexican immigration authorities in 2022

Around 16,000 Cubans have been intercepted by Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) between January 1 and April 13, the agency said in a statement on Saturday.

Cuban migrants (15,907) were the third largest group of irregular migrants intercepted by Mexican immigration authorities, surpassed only by Hondurans (21,965) and Guatemalans (21,954).

Other frequent nationalities were Nicaraguan and Salvadoran, with 8,270 and 6,931 migrants, respectively. Another 6,188 immigrants intercepted were of non-continental origin.

The INM detained 115,379 migrants when they entered or were transiting through Mexican territory during this period. Out of the total number of migrants intercepted, 17,649 were minors.

As of last Wednesday, Mexico has deported 928 Cubans to Cuba so far in 2022, making it the country that has sent the most migrants back to the island.

According to Cuban government figures, those who returned to the country in 2022 total 1,600. In addition to those from Mexico, 695 were deported from the United States, 55 from the Bahamas, and two from the Cayman Islands.

Cubans are also one of the largest groups of migrants crossing the United States' southern border.

According to figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), between November 2021 and February 2022, more than 40,000 Cubans entered through the U.S. border with Mexico. During the entire previous fiscal year, between October 2020 and October 2021, the figure was just over 38,000.

Last March alone, more than 32,000 arrived at the border and entered the U.S., reflecting the growing trend of irregular Cuban migration that is boosted by the Cuban visa exemption decreed by Nicaragua last November.

The migratory crisis that Cuba is going through is seen by many as an escape from declining living conditions on the island that come from the worsening of the economic crisis due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and failed economic policies of the regime.

Several experts believe that the wave of migrants is being promoted by the island's elite in collaboration with Daniel Ortega's regime as a kind of escape valve to alleviate political tensions in the country and to guarantee a greater flow of remittances in the medium term.