Mexican authorities on Friday stopped dozens of migrants from hitchhiking to the United States on freight trains in Mexico City as part of a major new crackdown.
Thousands of people have made the perilous journey to the Mexico-U.S. border before crossing illegally, using freight trains known as “The Beast.”
Earlier this week, Mexican railway company Feromex suspended 60 trains in northern Mexico after migrants were injured climbing onto freight cars. Mexico’s National Institute for Migration (INM) then sent officials to dissuade people from boarding the ship, Reuters reported.
About 40 INM personnel in more than a dozen vans drive along the railroad tracks alongside the garbage dump in Huehuetca, a town north of Mexico City, cutting off access to migrants and flying drones to intercept migrants. discovered an intruder. surrounding hills.
“They forced us away from the railway,” a Venezuelan migrant named Jason told Reuters. “There is no other choice.”
Carrying backpacks and water jugs, the migrants retreated on foot under the hot sun through tall grass to the nearest town.
According to Reuters, INM announced on Friday that it would partner with Feromex to identify strategic points to deter migrants from trying to board trains.
Feromex said on Wednesday that in recent days there have been “about half a dozen incidents of regrettable injury or death” caused by migrants jumping onto freight cars. He also said some migrants were jumping on moving wagons “despite the significant risks involved.”
The crackdown comes as desperate migrants are increasingly seeking access to the United States, overwhelming both Mexican and U.S. border authorities.
Migrants have long used the trains, known collectively as the Beast, for hitch rides to the U.S. border, but the Feromex, which departs from Zacatecas, Mexico, carries migrants heading to the U.S. southern border. A video of the train went viral on the internet. Sunday.
When the company announced the decision to suspend rail service, it said about 1,500 migrants had gathered at a rail yard in the city of Torreon, on the northern border of Coahuila state.
Migrants continue to travel in droves, despite the United States’ stern message to immigrants: “Don’t come.”
The crackdown comes as desperate migrants are increasingly seeking access to the United States, overwhelming both Mexican and U.S. border authorities.
Migrants have long used the trains, known collectively as the Beast, for hitch rides to the U.S. border, but the Feromex, which departs from Zacatecas, Mexico, carries migrants heading to the U.S. southern border. A video of the train went viral on the internet. Sunday.
When the company announced the decision to suspend rail service, it said about 1,500 migrants had gathered at a rail yard in the city of Torreon, on the northern border of Coahuila state.
Migrants continue to travel in droves, despite the United States’ stern message to immigrants: “Don’t come.”
Well over 20,000 migrants were in Border Patrol custody in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley area last month, according to CBP sources.
The caravan heading to the southern border included families with infants and children, as well as unaccompanied minors.
Many of the families stranded along the Rio Grande Valley have been released with future court dates set.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner, Bill Melugin and Lawrence Richard and Reuters contributed to this report.
