Photo Ángeles Mariscal
In the framework of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center spoke out against the growing macropolitics promoted by states in the region, which instrumentalizes immigration detention to punish and break the will of migrants, dissuade them from exercising their rights, and force them to abandon their migration and/or life plans.
The organization has witnessed how, through bilateral agreements and diplomatic, economic, and tariff pressures, Mexico and various Central and South American countries have been forced to comply with policies imposed by the United States government.
As an example, on January 21st, 2025, President Donald Trump, just hours after taking office, signed an avalanche of executive orders declaring the border and immigration situation a national emergency, militarizing the borders, and classifying gangs and individuals linked to organized crime as terrorists.
As a result, anti-immigration and anti-rights laws have followed; the Guantánamo Naval Base was opened as a detention center for migrants considered “high-priority criminals.” The first group was transferred on February 4th, and to date, it is unknown who is being detained there.
In addition, there is the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) in El Salvador. Despite the ongoing legal battle in the US regarding these deportations, several groups have been transferred and detained. The first was exposed in the media: handcuffed, shaved, and locked up without contact with the outside world or access to legal representation, while many families learned about it through the media.
Furthermore, the United States has funded programs and agreements with countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama to curb migration.
For the Center, the situation is no different in Mexico, as people on the move continue to suffer serious human rights violations in immigration detention.
“Despite the State’s attempts to disguise their prison-like nature with euphemisms such as ‘shelters’ or ‘accommodation spaces,’ these centers continue to operate under an architecture of punitive control that currently goes unnoticed by the public,” it explained.
It also reported that in these spaces, torture manifests itself in multiple acts that, taken together, constitute torture environments, such as: disproportionate use of force, sleep deprivation, spoiled food, lack of personal hygiene and menstrual management supplies, lack of privacy, lack of communication with the outside world, absence of interpreters, denial of medical care, sexual abuse, rape, forced isolation, and even physical punishment.
Original article by Andrés Domínguez, Chiapas Paralelo, June 29th, 2025.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.