The migration crisis in Chiapas is intensifying with the increase in checkpoints and detentions of people on the move in various areas of the state, such as Comitán, San Cristóbal de Las Casas and Tuxtla Gutiérrez. This operation is part of the deployment of the Pakal Immediate Reaction Force (FRIP), according to reports from the Southern Border Monitoring Collective.
This organization, made up of 19 networks and civil society groups in Chiapas, Tabasco, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Mexico City, has been working since 2018 to document and report the migration situation in the region. Its objective is to defend the human rights of migrants and refugees in Mexico.
In its most recent report, the collective highlighted that the closure of the CBP One application by the United States government, after the inauguration of Donald Trump, has generated uncertainty among migrants stranded in the south, center and north of Mexico. This application allowed people to request asylum in the United States, and its cancellation has caused significant emotional strain among those seeking international protection.
In the coastal area of Chiapas, hundreds of people camp outside the offices of the National Institute of Migration (INM) waiting to be transferred by bus. However, since last December, INM staff stopped using waiting lists and now puts those with a confirmed appointment at CBP One on buses.
Another critical point identified by the organizations is the transportation of Venezuelan people in the community of Viva Mexico, from where they are transferred to Tuxtla Gutiérrez. There, the INM gives them documents to transit through the country.
Chiapas continues to be a nerve center in the migration crisis, receiving thousands of people of different nationalities. With the tightening of migration policies and mass deportations, the situation in the region could become even more complex in the coming years.
Original article by Javier Domínguez, Sol de Chiapas, February 23, 2025.
Translated by Schools for Chipas.