The migrants leave southern Mexico and clash with the authorities

Mexico City, April 1 (EFE) – Hundreds of migrants set off this Friday from the Mexican border town of Tapachula to take a walk to Mexico to regulate their immigration status, but a few miles away they clashed with federal authorities. .

This new convoy, called the “Cross Migrant Road” because of its proximity to Holy Week, departed at about 07:00 local time (13:00 GMT) from this city in the southeastern state of Chiapas, bordering Guatemala, where thousands of migrants spent weeks and even months.

A contingent of men, women, and children picked up their bags and began marching through the city streets toward the Chiapas Coast Highway to head to the capital, more than 1,000 miles away.

Tired of waiting

Carlos Riquelme, a Salvadoran migrant, told Ephesus that he was tired of coming to the Mexican Refugee Aid Commission (Comar) and the National Institute for Migration (INM) to try to get him to handle his case.

He explained that he had been in the city for three years – the activists called it a “fortress-town” – and that when he finally received a resolution requesting asylum from Komar, it was negative.

The Central American explained that he had walked in a past caravan but had been arrested by immigration authorities.

“I was not even deported to my country. “I was left in Mexico,” said the man, who said it would be his last attempt.

The foreigner, who travels with other migrants and carries a few suitcases, said his goal is to stay in Mexico, but in a country where there are more employment opportunities.

“We know that many more people (migrants) will join us on the road. “Our destination is to be able to move forward to our destination, this is the northern border,” he added.

Ivel Antonio Martinez, a migrant from Venezuela, noted that the economic situation in Tapachula is dire.

However, they began to walk and seek protection from the federal government during transit. “We do not want violence or confrontation. “We want peace and freedom,” he said.

Shock to the government

The migrants walked to the ejido Viva México, eight kilometers from Tapachula.

Members of the migrant caravan collided with National Migration Institute (INM) and National Guard (GN) personnel at Viva México’s first checkpoint but managed to break through a security fence set up by the federal government.

There were about 150 members of the National Guard in this first clash.

INM Delegate in Chiapas, Paola Lopez Rhodes, surrounded by her agents, asked the migrants to return and regulate their immigration status, but her request was ignored.

Many migrant women and children fell during the quarrel. However, no migrants were detained at that time and the road continued along the seafront.

In the second skirmish, about seven miles later, migrants crashed into a wall of federal troops, throwing stones at them.

Some of them were retained by the government, which was confirmed by Efe.

Therefore, just a few hours after departure, the caravan is already advancing with a reduced contingent.

The wave of migration

The region is experiencing a record influx into the United States, whose Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office has identified more than 1.7 million undocumented immigrants across the Mexican border in fiscal year 2021, which ended Sept. 30.

According to the Department of Migration Policy of the Ministry of Interior, Mexico in 2021 deported more than 114,000 foreigners.

In addition, the Mexican Refugee Assistance Commission (Comar) received a record 131,448 refugee applications in 2021. More than 51,000 of these petitioners are Haitian.

This is the second migrant caravan of the year, after the first contingent of about 500 people left last January, but due to government pressure it barely advanced about 20 kilometers.

In September last year, Mexican authorities thwarted the advance of four caravans of migrants that had just left Tapachula.

Several UN agencies and NGOs have since criticized the use of force in the demolition operations of these caravans.

Another caravan, which had been traveling for more than a month, arrived in Mexico City in mid-December.