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Mexican airline offers one-dollar flights to Central American migrants

Migrants aged 18 or older will only need to present their Sole Identity Document (DUI)

Flight departures will be from the airports of Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, Guadalajara, and Mexico City, bound for Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala - Photo: File photo/EL UNIVERSAL
22/06/2019 |14:32Sara Cantera |
Redacción El Universal
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Mexican airline Volaris is offering one-dollar flights to undocumented Central American migrants wishing to return to their home country.

The company’s “Reuniendo Familias” (Reuniting Families) program started on June 20 and will be in force until June 30 .

The airline offers one-way tickets only, with a cost of one dollar, plus taxes.

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Flight departures will be from the airports of Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, Guadalajara, and Mexico City , bound for Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala .

Migrants aged 18 or older will only need to present their Sole Identity Document (DUI) while minors will need to provide their passports or birth certificates.

“In this way, Volaris strengthens its commitment to reunite families and collaborate by offering an alternative for the solution of the migration phenomenon,” the company stated through a press release.

The migration flow through Mexican territory to the U.S. has caused an insecurity problem in both countries this year. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 5% tariffs on Mexican goods if the country did not strengthen efforts to stop migrants from crossing into the United States.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador

has stressed that coercive measures such as the closure of borders and persecution were not viable solutions to reduce the flow of migrants traveling to the U.S., insisting that his government would work to protect migrants.

Last year, Volaris offered free flights for families that had been separated by the U.S’. “Zero tolerance” migration policy applied by Donald Trump.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, S.A.B. de C.V. (Pacific Airports Group, LLC)

, a Mexican airport operator headquartered in Guadalajara joined Volaris’ initiative on Friday, announcing that it had decided not to charge the Mexico Airport Departure Tax (TUA) to migrants traveling from Tijuana, Mexicali, and Guadalajara.

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