Irregular migration intercepted by Mexico has tripled in the first quarter of the year to almost 360,000 people amid increasing operations, although the Government affirms that the migratory flow has decreased.
The Mexican authorities detected 359,697 “people in an irregular immigration situation” between January and March 2024, an increase of 199.68% compared to the 120,029 in the same period of 2023, according to statistics available this Saturday from the Migration Policy Unit. of the Ministry of the Interior.
In just three months, the Government of Mexico has intercepted almost half, 46%, of the record 782,176 irregular migrants it detected in all of 2023, when this flow rose 77% annually.
The main country of origin of migrants is Venezuela, with 89,718 registered, almost one in four of the total, 24.94%.
They are followed by Honduras (37,323), Ecuador (36,956), Guatemala (36,934), Colombia (21,534), Nicaragua (18,711), El Salvador (17,720), Haiti (16,791) and Cuba (10,464).
More operations and less migration, according to the Government
The figures are released after a joint statement issued last Monday by the presidents of the United States, Joe Biden, and of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who agreed to “work together to immediately implement concrete measures in order to significantly reduce crossings.” irregular borders.”
As an achievement, López Obrador affirmed on Thursday that the arrests of undocumented immigrants have fallen by more than 50% on the border with the United States, which reported about 12,000 per day in December and in April it dropped to an average of 5,812.
Tension over migration has increased this year because the presidential elections in Mexico and the United States coincide, but the Mexican president denied that he will tighten controls due to pressure from the United States.
“No, I don’t let myself be pressured by anyone, Mexico is an independent country and the president of Mexico acts freely, he is not a puppet of any foreign government,” he stated in his morning conference.
The southern border suffers from the phenomenon
Tapachula, the largest city on Mexico’s southern border, still suffers from the phenomenon, although some activists point out that the number of migrants on the streets has decreased.
Gerver Bermúdez, administrator of the Jesús el Buen Pastor shelter in Tapachula, considered that the presence of foreigners has decreased, but they have not stopped arriving in the city, where they stay for four or five days and continue their route because the authorities are not giving them permits. traffic.
“The shelter is always full and the objective is to support everyone who comes as an immigrant. We have handled between 800 and 900 people of different nationalities such as Hondurans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Ecuadorians,” he told EFE.
On the other hand, Cecilia Izaguirre, a human rights defender in Tapachula, highlighted that the presence of so many foreigners is no longer very visible.
“People no longer stay in Tapachula, because they came to be here to do their Comar (Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance) procedure, but now they are passing by, it has decreased a little, but it has not stopped or it has not decreased in a large quantity,” said the activist.
Cuban Felipe Martínez, who works informally parking vehicles, explained that now the migrants “are walking” from the southern border due to the action of the Mexican authorities.
“They leave in a caravan because they delay the paperwork a bit, they fall into a state of anxiety because they want to be established in one place with their families, they get desperate, they emigrate and continue looking for new horizons,” said the migrant, who is waiting for the Comar resolve your asylum application.
On the other hand, Jorge Cruz, a Honduran who is at the Jesús el Buen Pastor shelter, considered that migration remains normal because “enough people always arrive every day.”
“There are always, I see, there are more people who go up and up, it hasn’t gone down, quite a few people come in, quite a few people also come into the shelter, there are children and women, those who are supported come and go,” he commented.
EFE
