MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s president on Wednesday unveiled a bilingual “hymn” to Mexican migrants dwelling in the US, at the same time as migrants from different international locations proceed to undergo abuses, delays and hostility in Mexico.
President Claudia Sheinbaum used her morning information briefing to current the tune “Migrant Hymn.” The lyrics, a mixture of English and Spanish, embrace strains like “the place we’re from, no nos rajamos” (we do not hand over).
Sheinbaum referred to as Mexican migrants “heroes,” partially as a result of they despatched $63 billion again dwelling to family members in Mexico final yr.
Stressing migrants’ loyalty to Mexico, the tune says “Cambiamos de lugar, no de bandera” (we modify our location, not our flag).
Whereas about 11 million Mexicans reside in the US — together with about 5 million with out correct paperwork — many needed to flee Mexico due to violence or lack of alternatives, and it stays unclear how loyal or carefully tied they continue to be to the federal government.
On the identical day the hymn was unveiled, a migrant shelter within the northern border metropolis of Reynosa introduced it might now not settle for newcomers, as a result of gangs have been kidnapping so many migrants from its doorstep.
Rev. Héctor Silva, who runs the Senda de la Vida (Path of Life) in Reynosa, throughout from McAllen, Texas, stated the state of affairs is so harmful within the cartel-dominated border metropolis that police escort migrants to appointments for his or her U.S. asylum functions.
“Till folks have safety they usually cease kidnapping migrants after they arrive … we do not need any extra arriving,” stated Silva.
Additionally on Wednesday, a brand new caravan of migrants started strolling north towards the U.S. border from town of Tapachula, close to the border with Guatemala. The migrants stated they have been bored with being blocked from crossing Mexico by the federal government.
However they’ve little or no likelihood of creating it quite a lot of dozen miles. In November, Mexican officers broke up two comparable migrant caravans.
Other than the a lot bigger first caravans in 2018 and 2019 — which have been offered buses to journey a part of the way in which north — no caravan has ever reached the U.S. border strolling or hitchhiking in any cohesive means, although some particular person members have made it.
For years, migrant caravans have usually been blocked, harassed or prevented from hitching rides by Mexican police and immigration brokers. They’ve additionally regularly been rounded up or returned to areas close to the Guatemalan border.
This week, the human rights group Docs With out Borders wrote in a report that “a whole bunch of 1000’s of migrants, nearly all of whom are crossing to achieve the US, fall into limbo in Mexico, hemmed in by violence.”
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Comply with AP’s protection of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
