Hundreds of migrants mount protest in southern Mexico in bid to legalize status

Hundreds of migrants mount protest in southern Mexico in bid to legalize status


Migrants walk in a caravan during U.S. Presidential election day, in an attempt to reach Mexico’s northern border, in Tapachula, Mexico November 5, 2024. 

Daniel Becerril | Reuters

A group of about 1,200 migrants set out walking before dawn in southern Mexico on Wednesday aiming for the capital where they hoped to legalize their immigration status and find more work opportunities after a long frustrating wait near the Guatemala border.

Cubans made up the majority of the migrants, but there were also people from Honduras, Ecuador, Brazil and Haiti.

Unlike earlier migrant “caravans” with a goal to reach the United States, Wednesday’s group and others over the past year are trying to coerce Mexican authorities into speeding up the process for asylum and get out of southern Mexico where there are few work opportunities.

Cuban migrant Losiel Sánchez and his wife arrived in Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, in November. They had hoped to get an appointment through a U.S. government app called CBP One that would allow them to cross the U.S. border, request asylum and likely be paroled into the U.S. while that process played out.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump has ended that program, stranding tens of thousands of migrants who had already been making their way toward the U.S. border. Sánchez decided to stay in Mexico and seek asylum, but despite numerous visits to Mexico’s asylum agency, known as Comar, the couple still doesn’t have an answer about their status.

He said he was scammed by someone claiming to be a lawyer who promised to help speed them through the process.

“Everything is expensive and I can’t pay rent,” said Sánchez, who hopes to have better luck in Mexico City. “There’s no work, they don’t want to give you work if you don’t have papers.”

Anery Sosa, another Cuban migrant, has been in Tapachula for year. Her attempt to get asylum was derailed when someone stole her documents. She had a daughter with a Mexican and hopes to find someone to take care of her during the day so that she can work. Her husband’s earnings alone don’t cover rent and food, she said.

The group of migrants appeared to have organized without a leader over social platforms where frustrated migrants rallied to try to walk their way out of southern Mexico. In the past, Mexican authorities have allowed migrants to walk for a few days and then offer to help with their documents and sometimes transportation.



Source

Stony silence from Moscow after Trump turns on Russia, says talks with Putin ‘don’t go anywhere’
World

Stony silence from Moscow after Trump turns on Russia, says talks with Putin ‘don’t go anywhere’

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters There was a stony silence from Moscow a day after the U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Russian […]

Read More
China and India to face supply jolt as U.S. targets Russia’s oil giants
World

China and India to face supply jolt as U.S. targets Russia’s oil giants

General view of Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in the city of Orsk, Orenburg region, Russia Aug. 28, 2025. Stringer | Reuters U.S. decision to sanction Russia’s two largest oil companies threatens to disrupt the energy lifeline linking Moscow to its biggest customers in Asia, but without causing an immediate supply shock, industry experts told CNBC. The […]

Read More
‘Europe’s Detroit’ is losing its shine as an automotive powerhouse
World

‘Europe’s Detroit’ is losing its shine as an automotive powerhouse

A Kia Sportage automobile in the quality control inspection area at the Kia Slovakia sro plant in Zilina, Slovakia, on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Slovakia, a small landlocked country in the heart of Europe, faces a perfect storm as it seeks to protect its enviable automotive reputation. From the […]

Read More