Nearly 1,300 Latin American migrants arrested in Mexico in 24 hours
The Border Patrol intercepting migrants who had arrived in Yuma, Arizona, on February 5, 2022, after crossing the border from Mexico (illustration photo).
AP - Elliot Spagat
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Mexico is cracking down on undocumented migrants crossing through the Latin American country in an attempt to reach the United States.
In 24 hours, nearly 1,300 migrants were arrested by the police.
This was announced by the authorities of the country.
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The police intervened Thursday along the migratory route that leads from the border with Guatemala, in the south, to the border with the United States in the north.
The arrested migrants were traveling hidden in trucks, also hidden in empty water tanks loaded onto pick-up platforms.
Still others had boarded tourist buses.
Among those arrested were more than 700 men, 300 women and nearly 200 minors, 165 of whom were unaccompanied.
None of these migrants has valid papers allowing them to cross Mexico.
Most of them are from Central America: Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans have been fleeing violence and poverty for several years.
But more than 300 Colombian migrants are also among those arrested.
Last year, nearly two million migrants were arrested at the Mexico-US border.
Mexico City has since tightened controls.
Several thousand migrants are currently held in Tapachula, in the south of the country.
Some have sewn their mouths shut, others have gone on a hunger strike.
They demand humanitarian passes to be able to reach the United States.
►Read also: The United States suspends imports of Mexican avocados
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