In the midst of the critical epidemiological situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump is doing something that he has wanted to do for a long time -- the mass deportation of undocumented migrants whose asylum requests were being processed.

On the grounds that this decision would help prevent the spread of the dangerous disease, the White House ordered immigration authorities to send migrants awaiting their asylum requests back to Mexico or other countries.  At least 10 thousand people were expelled from the country, including hundreds of unaccompanied children who, according to current laws, would have the right to remain in the United States for humanitarian reasons.

Donald Trump's argument is deceitful, and was expressed in an article published by the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, quoting The Washington Post.  According to this source, the excuse used by the Trump administration is to prevent undocumented immigrants from spreading the virus in the United States, when the actual fact is that the virus is much more widespread in the U.S. than in their countries of origin.

The reality is that deportation leaves these people in a serious condition of helplessness, since they are not welcomed in Mexico either, and there are few places prepared to take them in because shelters are already overwhelmed.

For instance, at a private hotel in Piedras Negras, Coahuila state, used to shelter migrants, 80 people were left on the street when they were kicked out by municipal authorities, fearing the spread of COVID-19.

Others are sent directly from the United States to the Central American Northern Triangle.  At the beginning of the health crisis, the Guatemalan government closed the airport to flights that carried migrants, but this measure did not last 24 hours under the pressure of Washington.

Tonatiuh Guillén, former commissioner of the National Institute of Migration in Mexico, said "it is the worst migratory situation ever experienced in the region, which is restrictive, discriminatory and a violation of human rights."  Guillen added: "The Trump administration has done what it has always wanted to do."

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an advisor to the American Immigration Council, along with ten Democratic senators, expressed in a letter that the health crisis does not give the government carte blanche to violate regulations and human rights.

Donald Trump prides himself to be a very smart man, but his actions prove him to be the most inhumane U.S. president in history.