Mexican authorities on Friday prevented dozens of migrants from traveling to the United States on freight trains in Mexico City, in a major new law enforcement effort.
Thousands of people have used freight trains, known as “The Beast,” to make a dangerous journey to the US-Mexico border before crossing illegally.
Earlier this week, Mexican rail company Ferromex temporarily suspended 60 trains running in the northern part of the country because migrants were injured boarding freight cars. Since then, Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) has deployed agents to discourage people from boarding, according to Reuters.
On a railroad track next to a garbage dump in Huehuetoca, a town north of Mexico City, about 40 INM agents in more than a dozen vans drove alongside the tracks to cut off access to migrants and sent a drone to locate others who had gotten into the truck. surrounding hills.
“They forced us to leave the road,” a Venezuelan migrant named Jason told Reuters. “We no longer have any other options.”
The migrants, carrying backpacks and jugs of water, made their way through the tall grass under the scorching sun to retreat on foot to the nearest town.
The INM said on Friday it would partner with Ferromex to identify strategic points to deter migrants from trying to board the trains, Reuters reported.
Ferromex said Wednesday that there have been about “half a dozen unfortunate cases of injuries or deaths” caused by migrants boarding freight cars in recent days. He also said some migrants were jumping onto moving freight cars “despite the grave danger that this represents.”
Mexican authorities have launched new police action to discourage people from trying to travel on trains after several reports of serious injuries or deaths.REUTERS
The crackdown comes as desperate migrants increasingly seek access to the United States, overwhelming both Mexican and American border officials.
Migrants have long used trains, known collectively as “The Beast,” to hitchhike to the U.S. border, and a video of a Ferromex train leaving Zacatecas, Mexico, packed with migrants, heading toward the border southern United States, went viral on Sunday.
When the company announced the decision to stop train operations, it said there were about 1,500 migrants gathered at a rail yard in the city of Torreón, in the northern border state of Coahuila.
Asylum seekers heading to the United States travel by train after thousands of migrants crossed into the United States in recent days, in El Carmen, Mexico, September 21, 2023.REUTERS
Despite the United States’ stern message to immigrants of “Don’t come,” immigrants continue to make the trip en masse.
The crackdown comes as desperate migrants increasingly seek access to the United States, overwhelming both Mexican and American border officials.
Migrants have long used trains, known collectively as “The Beast,” to hitchhike to the U.S. border, and a video of a Ferromex train leaving Zacatecas, Mexico, packed with migrants, heading toward the border southern United States, went viral on Sunday.
Asylum seekers heading to the United States travel by train after thousands of migrants crossed into the United States in recent days, in El Carmen, Mexico, September 21, 2023.REUTERS
When the company announced the decision to stop train operations, it said there were about 1,500 migrants gathered at a rail yard in the city of Torreón, in the northern border state of Coahuila.
Despite the United States’ stern message to immigrants of “Don’t come,” immigrants continue to make the trip en masse.
Last month, there were more than 20,000 migrants in Border Patrol custody, according to a CBP source, in the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas.
The caravans headed toward the southern border included families with babies and children, as well as unaccompanied minors.
Of the families who were detained throughout the Rio Grande Valley, many were released with future court dates.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner, Bill Melugin, Lawrence Richard and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn