More than 300 migrants detained in southern Mexico
Tapachula, Mexico, Nov 11 (EFE).- Mexican immigration agents and National Guard troops took more than 300 undocumented migrants into custody Friday, intercepting two northbound caravans in Mexico’s southern-most state, Chiapas.
The first operation took place in Huixtla, near the border with Guatemala, where 120 migrants were detained, including some who gave themselves up.
But others in the caravan pelted the National Institute of Migration (INM) agents with rocks, injuring two of them.
Later Friday, INM and National Guard elements stopped 180 migrants in Pijijiapan, a town midway between the Guatemalan border and the boundary separating Chiapas from Oaxaca state.
Militants among the caravan resisted with violence, destroying an INM vehicle and leaving three agents wounded.
Central American migrants began crossing into Mexico from Guatemala in large numbers in 2018, hoping to reach the United States.
While the flow of people from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras continues, the proportion of Venezuelans and Haitians has increased dramatically.
The desperation of the Venezuelans has grown since the US announced that it will grant a limited number of humanitarian visas to people from Venezuela who arrive by plane, while those who enter across the Mexican border face summary deportation back to the Aztec nation.
And recent days have seen Venezuelan, Colombian, Haitian, Peruvian and African migrants acting more aggressively toward Mexican authorities.
Fifteen INM agents have been injured in such confrontations over the last two months.
The region is experiencing a record flow of migrants trying to make their way to the US, whose Customs and Border Protection agency intercepted more than 2.76 million undocumented migrants in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2022.
Between US President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021 and the end of September 2022, more than 3.89 million migrants have been detained at the border, according to figures from the TResearch International consulting firm.
That figure exceeds the total for the equivalent periods of the presidencies of Donald Trump and Barack Obama. EFE
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