Central American Migrants Enter Veracruz Jungle To Avoid Arrest

On Wednesday, some 500 Central American migrants arrived at Ixhuatlan municipality, where 300 Mexican law enforcement officers were waiting to contain their advance towards the U.S. To avoid being arrested on the highways, some of them escaped into the forests of the Veracruz state.

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National Guard, Army, and the National Migration Institute (INM) tried to engage the migrant group to discourage their attempt to reach the U.S. border. The authorities offered them special permits that would allow them to remain in Mexico, but only 30 people accepted the offer.

Migrants say they will not return to their homelands because they have spent time and money escaping violence and poverty. Only a minority of them think that Mexican authorities will help them reach their destination.

The group that arrived in Ixhuatlan comes from larger caravan that has been crossing the country for weeks. They had planned to stop in Mexico City to try to legalize their status before continuing towards the northern border. However, they changed course after constant persecution from the authorities.

Irinio Mujica, one of the leaders of the Central American Carbana, summoned his comrades to meet in Veracruz to create a group of over 10,000 migrants through which they hope to pressure the Mexican authorities to allow them to pass to the northern border.

Migrants believe that U.S. authorities will be forced to expedite the asylum seeking process if the number of people arriving at the South border increases. President Joe Biden’s administration, however, maintains the "Remain in Mexico” policy, which forces migrants to wait on the other side of the border.

Meanwhile, the Veracruz Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia urged migrants to stop trying to cross the border and stated that the caravans' leaders are criminals involved in human trafficking. Law enforcement agents are expected to continue trying to detain irregular migrants.