A/HRC/11/7/Add.2 page 16 IV. KEY MIGRATION CHALLENGES A. Border control and detention procedures 54. Most undocumented migrants come through the southern border with Guatemala. It is estimated that 60 per cent come through the state of Chiapas, but it is extremely difficult to get an estimate of the number of persons who pass through the southern border during the year. According to migration statistics, INM in Chiapas detained approximately 90,601 persons during 2007, 49.58 per cent of the total in Mexico. Furthermore, Chiapas receives undocumented migrants from other Mexican states for their deportation to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. During 2007, 86,206 persons were deported from Tapachula, an average of 225 persons per day. On a national level, Mexico deported 182,705 persons in 2007, an increase from 179,345 in 2006. 55. To avoid treating undocumented migration as a crime, Mexico uses the term “to secure” rather than “to detain” in migration matters. Under the General Population Act, a foreigner is secured when, because of his/her irregular situation in the country, he/she is housed temporarily in a migrant holding centre, pending clarification of his/her migration status and, if appropriate, a decision to send him/her back. The latter is an administrative penalty, applicable when a foreigner infringes migration law, and involves making the foreigner leave the country immediately. 56. According to the Government of Mexico, it is their policy to detain migrants for a very short time (a few days to a couple of weeks, generally). Depending on the bilateral relationship Mexico has with the country of origin of the migrant, they can be returned the same day after spending only a few hours in a holding centre. The return is carried out at the expense of the Government of Mexico, and the most frequent returns are to Guatemala. 57. INM instituted new procedures for repatriation in 2006, partly as a response to international reports of abuse. The main change is that citizens of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua now have the opportunity to sign a repatriation form that may expedite their removal from the country. Those who immediately admit unlawful entry and who waive their rights to an administrative procedure are taken to the nearest INM office for processing. 58. Rather than remaining in the office or detention centre as in the past, these migrants are placed within hours on an INM bus. The bus then travels from office to office, collecting migrants until it is full. During 2007, 63 per cent of Central American migrants opted for repatriation or were repatriated. This process usually takes between one and three days depending on the location where the migrant is detained. Upon arriving at the Tapachula Detention Centre, migrants are usually deported on buses within 24 hours. 59. INM reports that it maintains 48 permanent detention centres and 116 additional spaces for housing migrants on a national level. These include immigration offices and, on occasion, jail cells. The number of detention centres has more than doubled since 2000, when INM reported having just 22 detention centres. INM began ramping up its infrastructure in 2000 by expanding the detention centre in Mexico City and then remodelling some of the smaller centres.