Mexico is testing cellphone app that allows migrants to send an alert if they are about to be detained in the US

AP
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Mexico is developing a mobile phone app that will allow migrants to alert relatives and local consulates if they believe they are being detained by the US Immigration Department, a senior official said on Friday.

The move is a response to President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to carry out mass deportations after he takes office on January 20.

The app has been rolled out for small-scale testing and “seems to be working very well,” said Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico’s foreign minister.

He said the app would allow users to tap a tab that would send an alert message to previously selected relatives and the nearest Mexican consulate. De la Fuente described it as a sort of panic button.

“If you are in a situation where detention is imminent, you press the alert button and it sends a signal to the nearest consulate,” he said.

US authorities are required to notify home country consulates when a foreign national is detained. Mexico says it has strengthened consular staff and legal aid to assist migrants in the legal process of deportation.

De la Fuente expects the app to be rolled out in January. He didn’t say whether the app has a deactivation tab that would allow someone to revoke a warning if they weren’t really detained.

The government says it has also set up a call center staffed 24 hours a day to answer migrants’ questions.

The Mexican government estimates there are 11.5 million migrants with some form of legal residency in the United States, and 4.8 million without legal residency or proper documents.