Thousands of migrants are participating in a major protest march in southern Mexico to call for the closure of detention facilities.
Migrant from El Salvador, Miriam Argueta, said to the AP news agency, “The only thing we are asking for is justice, and to be treated like everyone else.
In roughly 10 days, they intend to arrive in Mexico City, the country’s capital.
On Sunday morning, the 3,000-person caravan began its journey from the Mexican city of Tapachula, which is close to the Guatemalan border. They walked carefully on Sunday through the rural state of Chiapas while it was over 35C (95F) outside.
They are primarily from Colombia, Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela, and Central America.
Some migrants are carrying posters that read “government crime” and “the state killed them” in reference to those who perished in the fire, demanding better treatment for migrants.
How many protestors will actually make it, as in the past, to the US border is unknown. Authorities frequently disperse large gatherings well before they reach Mexico City or the US-Mexico border.
For their own safety, the migrants travel in big groups; they encounter numerous dangers along the journey, mainly from risky organized crime gangs and dishonest local law enforcement. According to migrant rights organizations, dispersing the caravans has resulted in the forced recruitment of numerous individuals by people-smuggling gangs.
Many migrants seek refuge in the US, but others do so in Mexico.
One of the primary bottlenecks on their treks is the largest immigration center in Mexico, located in Tapachula. The city’s refugee processing centers, known as the “migrant prison,” are overburdened.
According to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, migrants set fire to foam mattresses on March 27 after learning they would be deported.
They were reportedly protesting the substandard conditions in which they were being held, according to some accounts.
When video of the fire showed three uniformed personnel leaving the room while the migrants appeared to be left behind in a closed cage as the flames advanced, there was indignation.
Meanwhile, the contentious Trump-era regulation known as Title 42, which permits border officials to remove undocumented immigrants right away, is expected to be lifted by the Biden administration on May 11th.
