Thread: Migrants mistreated in Mexico, report says

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... ights.html

Migrants mistreated in Mexico, report says
Chris Hawley
Republic Mexico City Bureau
Feb. 6, 2007 12:00 AM

Mexico's human rights agency has accused officials in Sonora of mistreating illegal Central American migrants, saying detainees were jammed into overcrowded cells and denied food and water for hours during a crackdown last year.

The report comes as the Mexican government, under pressure from the United States, is ramping up efforts to catch thousands of foreigners passing through on their way to the U.S. border, and as migrant rights groups complain authorities are ill-equipped for the task.

Mexico's National Commission on Human Rights said immigration agents "violated (migrants') right to legality, judicial protection and dignified treatment" during a two-week inspection period from April 20 to May 7. Its report was released Jan. 19. advertisement




The inspection coincided with a crackdown in Sonora, said Maria Jesus Romero, regional spokeswoman for the National Migration Institute, Mexico's immigration-control agency.

Immigration agents had set up checkpoints along major highways to catch Central Americans traveling by bus to the U.S. border, she said. They were temporarily putting detainees in police lockups in Caborca, 80 miles southwest of Nogales, and in Hermosillo, 170 miles south of Nogales.

The report said immigration agents held as many as 78 people in four cells designed for five people each in Hermosillo. Most of the detainees were Guatemalans, followed by Hondurans and Salvadorans.

The commission's inspectors said there was not enough drinking water or blankets to go around, the toilets lacked water, and detainees were forced to sleep on the floors of the cells.

One detainee at the Caborca jail reported that he and six other migrants were denied food and water from 8:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. the next day. The report did not say whether the inspectors confirmed the complaint but did say they had received similar reports from other migrants.

Romero denied the migrants were mistreated.

"During the time of those highway checkpoints, it is true that the number of detainees went up dramatically," she said. "But they were held in those police stations only temporarily and never for more than 12 hours."

The National Human Rights Commission's findings have no legal force, but the publicly funded agency has much prestige, and its reports are taken seriously.

Mexico's constitution guarantees the right of free travel to its citizens, meaning Mexican authorities cannot stop their countrymen from crossing into the United States. But they are free to detain illegal border-crossers from other countries, and the United States has been urging them to do so as part of efforts to boost its own border security.

Many Mexicans empathize with these Central American travelers. But other people, especially in southern states like Chiapas, fear that Central Americans will eventually begin settling in Mexico and taking Mexicans' jobs. They also are worried about crime brought by the Mara Salvatrucha, Central American gangsters who control the immigration routes.

On Dec. 14, new President Felipe Calderón announced expanded security measures to stem the flow of Central American migrants. They include new police task forces along the Chiapas-Guatemala border, an overhaul of Mexico's visa program for seasonal farmworkers, and inspections to make sure Central Americans are in Mexico legally.

"I have the firm conviction that we can achieve a secure border and, at the same time, guarantee the human rights of all," Calderón said in a speech in Chiapas.

Mexico's Government Secretariat has also proposed tightening rules for detained migrants, the national newspaper El Universal reported Monday.

A secretariat document says the rules include fingerprinting and photographing migrants and would give immigration agents the power to deny them visitors for up to 20 days, the newspaper said.

Federal offices were closed for Monday's Constitution Day holiday, so the newspaper report could not be confirmed.

Still, the Jan. 19 human rights report raises questions about Mexico's preparedness for a crackdown, migrant rights groups say.

"Here in Sonora, Central American migrants are an afterthought," said Noemi Peregrino González, director of the Nogales, Sonora, Migrant Support Committee. "There's a lack of interest in their rights and a lack of resources to deal with them."

Mexico deported 179,345 people last year, most of them Central Americans. About 4,100 of those were caught in Sonora. By comparison, authorities in Arizona voluntarily removed or deported about 500,000 immigrants in 2006.

"It's fine for Calderón to say he's going to protect the human rights of those migrants, but it's impossible," said Antonio Velázquez, president of the Maya Chapin Guatemalan Organization of Arizona. "The authorities will just be free to abuse people even more."

The treatment of migrants held in borrowed jail cells has become an issue in the United States, as well. A Dec. 22 report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security found that five county and privately owned jails used for detaining migrants failed to meet Immigration and Customs Enforcement standards.

Inspectors found unsafe bunk beds at one jail, undercooked chicken being served at another and missing paperwork at four of the jails. At one jail, officials took 16 business days to approve a detainee's request to call his lawyer.

In a written response to the report, ICE said it was moving to correct most of the problems.

On Dec. 14, new President Felipe Calderón announced expanded security measures to stem the flow of Central American migrants. They include new police task forces along the Chiapas-Guatemala border, an overhaul of Mexico's visa program for seasonal farmworkers, and inspections to make sure Central Americans are in Mexico legally.

Did I just read that right? Mexico needs to IMPORT seasonal farm workers???

Beam me up, Scotty!

Originally Posted by PinestrawGuys

On Dec. 14, new President Felipe Calderón announced expanded security measures to stem the flow of Central American migrants. They include new police task forces along the Chiapas-Guatemala border, an overhaul of Mexico's visa program for seasonal farmworkers, and inspections to make sure Central Americans are in Mexico legally.

Did I just read that right? Mexico needs to IMPORT seasonal farm workers???

Beam me up, Scotty!

someone to do the work Mexicans will not do LOL

But other people, especially in southern states like Chiapas, fear that Central Americans will eventually begin settling in Mexico and taking Mexicans' jobs. They also are worried about crime brought by the Mara Salvatrucha, Central American gangsters who control the immigration routes.

They must be racist!

Originally Posted by gofer

But other people, especially in southern states like Chiapas, fear that Central Americans will eventually begin settling in Mexico and taking Mexicans' jobs. They also are worried about crime brought by the Mara Salvatrucha, Central American gangsters who control the immigration routes.

They must be racist!

Their just nice people who want to work and feed their families.
Lucky for the guys from central America they can drive with no license,no insurance, do all the drinking and driving they want, molest children, find 12 year old wives,(you got the picture) and know one cares, A plus for them all their law enfocement is looking for drug dealers, maybe!!!

Originally Posted by gofer

But other people, especially in southern states like Chiapas, fear that Central Americans will eventually begin settling in Mexico and taking Mexicans' jobs. They also are worried about crime brought by the Mara Salvatrucha, Central American gangsters who control the immigration routes.

They must be racist!

Don't forget isolationists and xenophobes!

jimpasz wrote:

someone to do the work Mexicans will not do LOL

Mexicans doing work Americans won't do
Guatamalans doing work Mexicans won't do
? doing work Guatamalans won't do.......

Whose at the bottom of the labor pile???