Mexico weighs grim prospect of deportation wave under Trump

Under proposals put forward by President-elect Donald Trump, Mexico could see millions of people streaming back with no jobs available; the country might lose some of the billions of dollars in remittances sent home annually; and some jobless deportees could swell the ranks of drug cartels, sparking more violence.

The federal government announced an emergency program this week aimed at encouraging business to hire returning migrants, but Mexico City teacher Armando Osorio doubted that would be enough, given the government's poor track record on job creation.

On Sunday, Trump said in an interview on the news program "60 Minutes" that "what we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, a lot of these people — probably two million, it could be three million — and getting them out of our country."

Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said at least some deportees will likely embrace drug trafficking, using already established U.S. connections to increase the amount of heroin and other drugs sent across the border.

There are cases of deported migrants assuming leadership positions in the region's gangs, such as Martin Estrada Luna, a high school dropout from Washington state with a rap sheet of petty crimes such as burglary.

"Political reality will make it clear that many of the proposals against Mexicans are simply not feasible, neither the deportation of all undocumented migrants, nor the construction of the wall," the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico City wrote in an editorial.