Migrants Pack Refuge Offices in Mexico Amid Fears Over US Immigration Policies

miles from migrants have flocked to government offices in southern Mexico to request refuge after USA announced that it would maintain harsh restrictions used to immediately expel those who have tried to cross into its territory undocumented.

Last month, the Supreme Court American said it would maintain the measure that dates from the Covid-19 era, at the same time President Joe Biden reported that this law, known as Title 42, could be extended until June.

US officials told Reuters that the order currently being applied to Guatemalans, hondurans, mexicans, salvadorans y Venezuelans it could soon reach Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans as well, raising fears of more expulsions, experts say.

The Cuban migrant Germán Ortiz, who has waited several days for his turn to request refuge in the Mexican city tapachulabordering Guatemala, said he wants to get to the United States quickly.

“We are sure that when this new law is applied, the road will be closed to us, much more,” said Ortiz, who arrived in Mexico at the end of last month. “We don’t want to take any chances, we have to get to the border now,” he said.

At the moment, Washington It deals with a record 2.2 million migrant apprehensions at its southwest border since 2022.

The controversial law was initially put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19, but US health officials have said it is no longer necessary. defenders of migrant rights they describe the policy as inhumane and that it exposes people on the move to serious risks, such as kidnapping or assault and even death.

Andrés Ramírez, head of the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (Comar) de México, estimated that up to 5,000 migrants showed up at the Tapachula offices between January 2 and 3, one of the largest groups the agency has seen in a short time. Many of them were Haitians.

Ramírez explained that a large number of people seek refuge thinking that with the document they are given they will be able to reach the US-Mexico bordermisdirected by “coyotes” (people traffickers).

The Latin American nation has sought mechanisms to contain mass migration to the United States, dismantling caravans and installing various security checkpoints throughout the country, with military and security forces. National Guard.

Ramírez believed that the large number of newcomers might be looking to reach the United States before the rules change. “They are trying to run,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

We ask for a chance

The police in Tapachula and the National Guard erected fences around the offices of eat to block the large crowds of migrants who even tried to force their way in, Reuters images show.

“I’ve been sleeping here (outside Comar) since January 1, waiting for them to help me, to give me shelter,” Mauricio Hilario, a 27-year-old Salvadoran migrant, told Reuters by phone on Tuesday.

Almost 400,000 migrants were detained in Mexico through November, double the number in 2019, official data shows. The figure is the highest since records have been kept.

The immigration issue is expected to occupy a prominent place on the agenda of the North American Leaders Summit, which will take place in Mexico City next week. At the meeting will be the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeauas well as the presidents of the United States and Mexico.

Lorena Mena, director of Continente Móvil, a think tank specializing in immigration issues, said that any expansion of Title 42 would likely increase risky migration because traffickers will encourage them to be deported to Mexico and not back home.

“Let people pass borders does not take away their rights, among them, to request asylum, and this is being limited, violating the principle of non-refoulement,” Mena explained, adding that many migrants will surely try to go to the United States again.

Some migrants, like Raquel, a 44-year-old Venezuelan who sold hard-boiled eggs with salt to pay for a small shared room in Tapachula, spoke of her hope that a plan would be generated at the summit that would facilitate legal passage to the United States.

“I would like both nations to give us the support and the opportunity to go (to the United States), seek an improvement for everyone to be able to go legally and not have to risk crossing through Mexico,” he said through tears.

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