INM found 150 migrants crowded in a hotel near the border with Guatemala

A total of 150 migrants, of whom nationality was not required, were found in overcrowded conditions in a hotel near Guatemala, reported the National Institute of Migration (INM).

In a statement released on Wednesday, the INM, under the Ministry of the Interior, indicated that agents located the migrants in a hotel in the state of Chiapas, “near the border with Guatemala.”

The INM specified that it “carried out a migration verification visit in the aforementioned building”, where the people were found in the context of mobility, who commented that they “expected to be transferred to the center of Mexican territory.”

The finding was made with the support of agents of the National Guard and the local police.

The authorities detailed that the persons were transferred to immigration offices in the state of Chiapas for their care and assistance, as well as to initiate the corresponding immigration procedure.

A few days ago, INM reported that the facilities of the Zona Sur Migration Regularization Office in Tapachula had already been repaired, after on March 18, a group of approximately 500 migrants attacked the facilities in order to demand that the authorities hand over the documents that would allow them travel freely through Mexico in order to reach the border with the United States, where they will seek political asylum.

According to the INM, migrants “caused physical injury to migrant personnel and damage to equipment and facilities.” Even from the public road a group of people took a street sign and used it to repeatedly hit the main gate of the Regularization Office.

They also destroyed video surveillance cameras, furniture, glass, machines, doors, windows and other equipment. According to preliminary reports, at least a dozen people were injured after the riots, some with head, nose and mouth injuries.

Despite the fact that the facilities have already been repaired, the immigration services in these offices remain temporarily suspended until further notice, since at this time the conditions are not the most optimal to ensure the safety of their staff and users.

The region is experiencing a record flow to the United States, whose Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) detected more than 1.7 million undocumented immigrants on the Mexican border in fiscal year 2021, which ended September 30.

Mexico deported more than 114,000 foreigners in 2021, according to data from the country's Ministry of the Interior.

Mexican authorities have intercepted 73,034 foreigners with an irregular stay in the national territory between January 1 and March 8 of this year, as recently reported by the INM.

Meanwhile, the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (Comar) received a record 131,448 refugee applications in 2021.

Last Thursday, the United States Department of Justice announced the dismantling of a transnational human trafficking organization operating on the country's southern border thanks to “broad bilateral cooperation” between US and Mexican authorities.

With information from EFE

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