Migrants denounce extortion by the police on the northern border of Mexico

By Guadalupe Peñuelas - EFE

Migrants on the northern border of Mexico denounce harassment by municipal police officers, who allegedly demand money from them so they do not report them to the immigration authorities.

Lacking documentation to prove their identity, foreigners work cleaning car windows at traffic lights in Ciudad Juárez, on the border with El Paso, Texas.

A group of migrants in the dining room of the cathedral in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Luis Torres / EFE

One such case is that of Lucas Alarcón, a Guatemalan trying to survive amid increasing Mexican-backed US immigration restrictions.

"Everything we work on is to have a better life, it is a constant fight with the police, insecurity. I have considered staying in Mexico, there are more opportunities than in Guatemala, if we stay here we are going to give it a try," he declared.

Alarcón affirmed that there are constant operations by the immigration authorities, which is why they feel persecuted since sometimes they have to hand over the money they earn so as not to be denounced for their immigrant status.

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more restrictions

The testimonies of migrants reflect the growing restrictions they face from the United States, which in January announced the monthly reception of 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans through a special request, but warned of the immediate deportation to Mexico of the rest who arrive by land.

While The Washington Post reported last month an alleged negotiation between Mexico and the United States to immediately deport migrants to Mexican territory, even if they are not Mexican, something that the Department of Homeland Security has denied.

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In the midst of this environment of persecution, the Venezuelan Roberto Carlos assured that the authorities ask him for money or, otherwise, threaten him with denouncing him and deporting him.

Faced with fear, he agrees to grant the few resources he earns to the authorities, but does not lose hope of crossing.

"I work here daily cleaning windows, I have to pay for a hotel, food, I came from Venezuela with my wife and my 11 and 8-year-old children. I already have an appointment on March 2, to fix my immigration situation, to request asylum politician," he said in an interview.

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Record numbers of migrants

The region is experiencing a record migratory flow, with 2.7 million undocumented people apprehended at the US border with Mexico in fiscal year 2022.

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, assured on February 13 that the immigration policies implemented by the president of the United States, Joe Biden, have worked to control the migratory flow.

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He commented that, up to that date, the number of deportees by the US government has been reduced, since they granted 24,000 temporary visas for foreigners, which has also had an impact on the migratory flow in Mexico, as shown in a graph in the National Palace.

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However, shelters in Ciudad Juárez have prepared to welcome more migrants, calculating that there will be more undocumented immigrants at the border.

"It is important that the process of receiving migrants in the United States be faster, the period where they analyze the immigration status is more agile. More shelters are needed to be able to receive migrants," warned Juan Fierro, director of the shelter " The Good Samaritan".