The radical activist who led the last massive migrant caravan from Mexico to the United States was once sentenced to 40 years in prison and has already brought tens of thousands of asylum seekers to the border.
Luis García Villagrán, a self-proclaimed evangelical Christian originally from Mexico, was once again at the forefront of a mass migration this week, leading some 8,000 migrants on a Christmas Eve march through Mexico to a border with the United States that is already in crisis, and predicting the number of asylum seekers could easily almost double to 15,000 down the road.
“We try to help the least protected people, especially migrant women and children,” the leading media expert told The Daily Caller in a July 2022 interview. “We just apply what is in the law.”
Villagrán, who heads the Center for Human Dignity, boasted at the time that he had guided 40,000 migrants to the border since September 2021, a figure that has multiplied since then and is expected to rise even further in the coming weeks and months.
The organizer told the outlet that he does not receive funding or assistance from outside organizations and is motivated by his faith and belief in the right of immigrants to leave their impoverished origins.
Migrant activist Luis García Villagrán was imprisoned for 12 years by the Mexican government. Angel Chevrest
Villagrán was previously arrested in the Mexican state of Chiapas in 1997 on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy, accusations he denied. He was found guilty by a judge and sentenced to 40 years behind bars, but, working with several human rights groups, he appealed his case and was finally released in 2010.
The activist, who runs his group with his wife, Martha Martínez de la Fuente, said he was tortured while in custody and that those previous struggles also fuel his mission.
The activist said that “they stigmatized him as dangerous and took me to maximum security prisons until I [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] “He demanded my freedom.”
Villagrán suffered a detached retina while in solitary confinement and maintains that the condition was not treated, resulting in loss of vision in one eye.
Villagrán has brought tens of thousands of migrants to the southern border of the United States. AFP via Getty Images
“The damage was repaired and the Center for Human Dignity was born,” he said.
A 2021 profile in Mexico Daily described Villagrán and fellow organizer Irineo Mujica as expert media tacticians trying to manage perceptions of the migratory movement, in addition to the thousands under their care.
“García is more of a pastor than a protester: thoughtful, eloquent, serene,” the outlet wrote. “They both understand the power of public opinion, have a knack for politics and a good eye for the camera.”
Villagrán is guiding 8,000 immigrants from Mexico to the border with the United States. REUTERS
As for his caravan this Christmas season, “today we are the poorest of the poorest of those who are at the peak of need, those of us who do not have money to pay for visas or polleros,” said Villagrán, referring to the traffickers. of people. .
Villagrán has openly criticized US immigration policy in the past, calling it “dominant” and driven by a desire to “impose.”
There have been approximately 2 million migrant encounters at the US southern border in fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
Villagrán said the caravan could increase to 15,000 people. REUTERS
Nearly a quarter of a million migrants crossed the perimeter in November alone, a new high for the month and the third-highest total in history.
“They will not stop us, we will continue walking,” Villagrán promised over the weekend, according to a Reuters report.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn