A migrant march in Mexico continues despite scrutiny of organiser’s arrest

One of the organisers, Luis Garcia Villagran, was detained for alleged quality trafficking successful the lead-up to the march.

A march has begun from the confederate Mexican authorities of Chiapas northward to the cardinal portion of the country, successful protestation of policies that marque ineligible migration presumption hard to achieve.

Wednesday’s march acceptable retired from the borderline metropolis of Tapachula, adjacent Guatemala, and astir 300 migrants, asylum seekers and supporters took part.

But the objection was overshadowed by the apprehension 1 time earlier of 1 of its leaders, salient migration activistic Luis Garcia Villagran.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed the apprehension successful her greeting quality league connected Wednesday. She alleged that Garcia Villagran had been detained for taking portion successful quality trafficking.

“That is the crime,” she said, adding that Garcia Villagran was “not an activist”.

She added that an apprehension warrant had been pending for the activistic for years. But it was unclear wherefore his apprehension was carried retired now.

The nonprofit Pueblo Sin Fronteras, however, disputed Sheinbaum’s characterisation of Garcia Villagran.

“The detention of Luis Villagran, manager and quality rights defender, is an unacceptable assault,” the nonprofit’s head, Irineo Mujica, wrote successful a post to societal media.

“Luis Villagrán’s lone ‘crime’ is to support those who person nary wealth oregon voice, and to archer the truth, which bothers the powerful. Stop criminalising quality rights defenders!”

Luis Garcia Villagran, the coordinator for the Centre for Human Dignification AC, speaks to migrants done a megaphone astatine a structure successful Huixtla, Mexico, connected June 8, 2022 [Marco Ugarte/AP Photo]

Mujica – who was detained himself successful 2019 connected akin charges, lone to beryllium released – argued that Garcia Villagran’s apprehension was a governmental distraction.

“This is simply a smokescreen: soiled and corrupt authorities to screen up the existent networks of corruption,” helium said.

Mujica and Garcia Villagran person some been salient voices successful a question to marque ineligible migration pathways much accessible.

They person besides been among the organisers associated with the inclination of the migrant “caravans” that question from confederate Mexico to the United States borderline successful caller years.

Some of those past caravans person progressive thousands of people, galore of whom banded unneurotic for extortion against transgression networks, corrupt officials and different threats they whitethorn look arsenic they migrate.

Migration northwards, however, has slowed, peculiarly since US President Donald Trump took bureau for a 2nd word successful January.

Trump rapidly attempted to barroom asylum claims astatine the border, a determination that has spurred a ineligible backlash.

Last month, a tribunal blocked his asylum ban on the ground that it created an “alternative migration system” without deference to Congress’s laws.

But Trump’s policies person nevertheless had a dampening effect connected migration astatine the border. In June, US Customs and Border Protection recorded lone 9,306 “encounters” with migrants and asylum seekers astatine the country’s confederate borderline – a astir 93 percent driblet compared with the aforesaid play past year.

Migrants and asylum seekers march northbound from Tapachula to cardinal Mexico connected August 6 [Edgar H Clemente/AP Photo]

Wednesday’s march had a antithetic nonsubjective than those past caravans, though, peculiarly arsenic migrants and asylum seekers crook distant from the US and question different destinations.

Organisers of the march sought to gully attraction to the dilatory processing clip for asylum applications successful Mexico and different hurdles to achieving ineligible migration status.

It besides served arsenic a objection against Mexican policies that person sought to support undocumented migrants and asylum seekers successful the southbound of the country, distant from the US border.

The Trump medication has pressured Mexico to ace down connected migration into the US, including done the menace of tariffs.

Garcia Villagran’s apprehension successful the hours starring up to the march, however, near immoderate migrants and asylum seekers fearful of taking portion successful the march.

The quality bureau AFP obtained 1 connection that was circulating among participants that read, “Hide, don’t fto yourselves get caught.”

A Catholic clergyman who took portion successful Wednesday’s march, Heyman Vazquez, told The Associated Press quality bureau that Garcia Villagran’s apprehension was “unjust”.

He added that the apprehension revealed a consciousness of insecurity successful the authorities implicit the question of migration. The solution, helium explained, would beryllium to make it easier for migrants and asylum seekers to get ineligible status, thereby removing the request for specified protests.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies