These are people who are concentrated in Tapachula, state of Chiapas, and not the more than 13,000 at the other end of the country in Acuña city, Coahuila state.

One of their spokesmen, Jean Wilbert, confirmed that most traveled from Tapachula by bus. Many of us are detained by immigration agents, they ask us for documents and say that those from Comar are not valid for moving around, he explained.

He said he travels with his daughter after leaving Brazil a few months ago, where he arrived five years ago.

To pass the ‘wall’ of migration agents in Tapachula you have to be lucky, says Senatus, another Caribbean man who witnessed how many of his countrymen were taken off the trucks when trying to leave the city.

We do not want to go to the United States, we only want to work here, he explains after learning about the deportations that United States immigration authorities have initiated.

In Comar office it is common to see Central American migrants, but now most are Haitians arriving in greater numbers than usual, as explained by agency personnel who attend the line formed since early hours.

pgh/lcr