Tapachula (Mexico), March 21 (EFE).- Thousands of migrants arrived on Tuesday at the offices of the National Institute of Migration (INM) in Tapachula, on Mexico’s southern border, to request a permit that allows them to travel by plane to the Mexican capital or to a state bordering the United States.
Migrants confirmed they are using the CBP One application, from US Customs and Border Protection, to apply for immigration after the United States announced last January that it would accept 30,000 migrants each month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba.
Gustavo Fernández is a migrant from Venezuela who arrived at the Tapachula Immigration Office along with nearly 3,000 other people.
This migrant worked in banking in Venezuela but left the country for personal reasons and is now looking for a higher paying job to support his family.
“This is new for me, I arrived in Tafachula, the first thing we were told was that there was a new application and a new opportunity not to go by land where they were most affected,” Fernandez explained to EFE about his appointment. hand
Migrants arriving at Mexico’s southern border have condemned the slowdown in immigration procedures.
With this new opportunity, migrants are persuaded to stop traveling overland and away from danger in order to travel to safety.
“We are doing the process to get permission at the border or in Mexico City and to be able to go a little further by air to make it easier for us because we have a lot of days tied up,” Fernandez said.
According to this migrant, this process was carried out by his compatriots last Friday and he managed to travel by plane.
Rogelio is a migrant from Cuba who also went to the immigration offices on Tuesday and admitted that they are being issued documents in Mexico.
“Thanks to this program it is possible to circulate in Mexico and they can reach the border, I don’t want to go to the US, I want to stay in this country because everything is calm here,” he said.
Some migrants erected metal fences to maintain order and prevent disorder, but others refused to comply, so at 11:00 local time (5:00 GMT) INM staff suspended services.
Mexico is experiencing record migration flows, with 2.76 million undocumented immigrants apprehended at the US-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022, and according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), migration flows into Mexico increased by 8%.
Source: El Diario
