Current:Home > Contact-usAbout 2,000 migrants begin a Holy Week walk in southern Mexico to raise awareness of their plight-LoTradeCoin
About 2,000 migrants begin a Holy Week walk in southern Mexico to raise awareness of their plight
View Date:2024-12-23 20:33:49
TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — About 2,000 migrants began walking Monday in southern Mexico in what has become a traditional demonstration during Holy Week before Easter to draw attention to their plight.
Leaving Tapachula near the Guatemalan border at dawn, the migrants and their advocates said their goal was to reach Mexico’s capital and highlight the dangers they face including robberies, sexual assaults, extortion and kidnapping.
Mexico has practiced a containment strategy in recent years that aims to keep migrants in southern Mexico far from the U.S. border. Migrants can languish there for months trying to regularize their status through asylum or other means. Migrants say there is little work available, and most carry large debts to smugglers.
The procession included a large white cross painted with the words “Christ resurrected” in Spanish. The day before the march, there was a stations of the cross procession — a time for pilgrimage and reflection — across the river that divides Guatemala and Mexico.
Guatemalan Daniel Godoy joined the walk on Monday with his wife and two children after waiting in Tapachula for four months to regularize their status.
“There’s still no date for the card, for the permit,” he said as they walked down a rural highway. “We decided it’s better to come on our own.”
He carried his 2-year-old daughter on his shoulders and his wife carried their 6-month-old baby.
Rev. Heyman Vázquez Medina, a member of the Catholic Church’s human mobility effort, said Mexico’s immigration policy lacked clarity. He noted that the government dragged its feet in granting legal status to cross the country and kept migrants off public transportation, but let them make the exhausting trek up highways.
“They have to walk under the sun and the rain, kilometers and kilometers, suffering from hunger? Who can take that?” Vázquez said.
Mexico’s government has been under pressure from the Biden administration to control the flow of migrants to the U.S. border.
The U.S. Border Patrol encountered migrants 140,644 times in February, according to data released Friday. That was up from 124,220 in January but well below the nearly 250,000 encounters in December.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
veryGood! (613)
Related
- The charming Russian scene-stealers of 'Anora' are also real-life best friends
- 2024 Olympics: Simone Biles Edges Out Rebeca Andrade for Gold in Women's Vault
- UAW leader says Trump would send the labor movement into reverse if he’s elected again
- Boxer Imane Khelif's father expresses support amid Olympic controversy
- Massive dust storm reduces visibility, causes vehicle pileup on central California highway
- Medical report offers details on death of D'Vontaye Mitchell outside Milwaukee Hyatt
- In a win for Mexico, US will expand areas for migrants to apply online for entry at southern border
- Man dies parachuting on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon
- Kennesaw State football coach Brian Bohannon steps down after 10 seasons amid first year in FBS
- Screw the monarchy: Why 'House of the Dragon' should take this revolutionary twist
Ranking
- See Chris Evans' Wife Alba Baptista Show Her Sweet Support at Red One Premiere
- San Francisco Giants' Blake Snell pitches no-hitter vs. Cincinnati Reds
- Top 13 Must-Have Finds Under $40 from Revolve’s Sale: Featuring Free People, Steve Madden, Jordan & More
- What’s the deal with the Olympics? Your burning questions are answered
- Utah AD Mark Harlan fined $40,000 for ripping referees and the Big 12 after loss to BYU
- Mariah Carey is taking her Christmas music on tour again! See star's 2024 dates
- US men's soccer loss in Olympic knockout stage really shows where team is at right now
- NFL Star Josh Allen Makes Rare Comment About Relationship With Hailee Steinfeld
Recommendation
-
Round 2 in the Trump-vs-Mexico matchup looks ominous for Mexico
-
Coca-Cola to pay $6 billion in IRS back taxes case while appealing judge’s decision
-
Federal judge rules that Florida’s transgender health care ban discriminates against state employees
-
Albuquerque police commander fired, 7th officer resigns in scandal involving drunken driving unit
-
Kalen DeBoer, Jalen Milroe save Alabama football season, as LSU's Brian Kelly goes splat
-
NFL Star Josh Allen Makes Rare Comment About Relationship With Hailee Steinfeld
-
When does Simone Biles compete next? Olympics beam finals on tap
-
Taking Over from the Inside: China’s Growing Reach Into Local Waters