6,000 migrants detained in Mexico in 4 days

Mexican authorities detained around 6,000 foreign migrants in four days, the country’s National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement.

From April 21 to April 24, around 5,688 of the detained migrants were found in safe houses, trailers, or hidden inside trucks or buses, the INM added. Others were found walking along highways or in the desert as they tried to make their way to the border.

@INAMI_mx rescató en los últimos 4 días a 5 mil 688 extranjeros de 36 naciones del mundo 🌎 Transitaban solas, en grupos o núcleos familiares por territorio nacional en condición de estancia irregular. https://t.co/UvSqpiWS8n pic.twitter.com/IFZFTDn390

— INM (@INAMI_mx) April 25, 2022

Many of the migrants “suffered overcrowded conditions and lacked food and water. Others were assaulted or abandoned by human traffickers,” reported El Economista.

Migrants from 36 different nationalities were detained, the statement continues. Most of the migrants arrested came from Honduras, with 1,060 intercepted, followed by 942 Cubans and 906 Guatemalans, reported Reuters. Among the top ten nationalities encountered were migrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Haiti.

The INM also reported that it detained some individuals from European and African countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belize, Uganda, Mali, Serbia, Argentina, Nigeria, Bolivia, France, Costa Rica, Egypt, Bolivia, Armenia, Jamaica, Tajikistan, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Romania, Eritrea, Panama, China, Yemen, Chile, Pakistan, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Hungary, Somalia, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan.

Around 3,645 migrants were adults traveling by themselves, and 1,163 were adults traveling with 680 minors. Among 5,688 migrants, 200 were unaccompanied minors, said the statement.

So far in 2022, Mexican authorities have detained 115,379 migrants, showing an increase in migration numbers. Authorities believe the rise of migrants over the last few years is driven by poverty, natural disasters, organized crime, and political crises.  

More migrants are expected to make their way to the U.S.-Mexico border after the Biden administration halts Title 42 on May 23, an order established during the Trump administration that allowed border officials to turn away migrants at the border to prevent further spread of the pandemic.