Mexico blocks the passage of a caravan of migrants

A caravan of some 300 migrants, the majority from Central America, was arrested Monday in Chiapas, southern Mexico, as it tried to reach the border with the United States, police said.

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This group, composed mainly of Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans and a few Haitians, was stopped in its march towards the border by an imposing device of national guards, according to a report from the police of the State of Chiapas. Mexican immigration officers then checked these migrants, including women and children, before arresting 80 of them. According to local media videos, migrants threw stones at national guards who were blocking them on the road.

This group of migrants, initially comprising 700 people, had left Tapachula on Saturday, on the border with Guatemala.

But after several confrontations with the police, several of them, mainly families, preferred to give up their trip.

Those who were able to escape police checks took refuge in communities established in this area before regrouping to resume their journey.

The National Migration Institute also indicated that it had laid off two of its agents seen on a video beating migrants who were part of this caravan that left on Saturday.

Another caravan of some 200 migrants left the same city on Monday with the aim also of reaching the United States, to find refuge there.

These caravans of migrants, many of whom are minors, have multiplied since the coming to power of US President Joe Biden. Mexico has deployed more than 27,500 members of the armed forces to its northern and southern borders to deal with these waves of migration.