A Mexican man has apparently taken his own life just half an hour after being deported from the United States.
An estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the US, many of them from Mexico. Photo: AFP
Guadalupe Olivas Valencia, 45, jumped from a bridge at the border after he was deported for the third time.
He was found unconscious next to a plastic bag with his belongings and died in hospital a short while later.
His death came as the Trump administration issued new guidelines to widen the net for deporting illegal immigrants from the US.
Witnesses said Mr Olivas was shouting that he did not want to return to Mexico and seemed to be in severe distress.
He jumped off a bridge just yards from El Chaparral, the main border crossing point between the US city of San Diego and Tijuana in Mexico.
Local media said a plastic bag like those US Customs and Border Protection authorities put migrants' belongings in was next to the man.
Mexican migration officials said it was the third time Mr Olivas had been deported from the US.
He died of a heart attack and concussion sustained when he hit the ground.
Mr Olivas was a native of Sinaloa, one of Mexico's most violent states and the stronghold of the cartel formerly led by jailed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Many Mexicans cite high levels of violence as a reason for leaving their homeland for the US.
The US government released two memos on Tuesday aimed at speeding up the removal of illegal immigrants from the US.
An estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the US, many of them from Mexico, and Mr Trump made immigration and border control a key part of his electoral campaign.
Earlier this month, a Mexican woman who had lived illegally in the US from the age of 14 was deported back to her home country despite protests.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security chief John Kelly are travelling to Mexico later on Wednesday.
They are due to meet President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday for talks about border security, law enforcement cooperation, and trade.
- BBC
