A group of migrants in southern Mexico clashed with immigration officials as they tried to round up women and children and take them to a shelter instead of having them spend the night in a park. The members of the caravan claim not to be headed for the U.S.-Mexico border but to Mexico City instead, with hopes of getting legal status to stay in that country.
The incident occurred this week in Tapachula, Chiapas, where the National Migration Institute and Mexican National Guard soldiers conducted a series of operations targeting women and children who were sleeping in parks and public places, and relocated them to shelters.
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During the roundup, some migrants refused to go with the agents, claiming that the move was in fact a harassment measure to keep them in Chiapas and not allow them to move to other parts of Mexico. Other migrants contended that it was a roundup aimed at deporting them. They began assaulting the agents and calling for help.
Male migrants nearby rushed to help them, escalating the situation into a riot of sorts that went on for several minutes until Mexican National Guard troops arrived to disperse the crowd. No arrests were reported in the incident, even though some INM agents reported minor injuries during the assault.
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The issue comes at a time when over 1,200 members of the migrant caravan, made up mainly of Caribbean and Venezuelan migrants, are trying to make their way to Mexico City in hopes of obtaining legal status to stay in that country. Unlike prior caravans, the migrants claim not to be seeking access to the U.S. border as many had done in the past. The shift results from policy changes implemented by the Trump administration, which closed many loopholes in political asylum that migrants had been using to enter the United States.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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