Latest news with #GarcíaVillagran
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
About 300 migrants start walk north from southern Mexico. Their goal is not the US border
About 300 migrants start walk north from southern Mexico. Their goal is not the US border TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Escorted by police and accompanied by a Catholic priest, about 300 migrants began walking north on Wednesday from southern Mexico, even as the activist who helped organize them remained in police custody over allegations of human trafficking. On Tuesday, authorities arrested Luis García Villagrán, the leader of a local nongovernmental organization in the city of Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, for alleged crimes related to his work with migrants. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her daily news briefing on Wednesday that he was 'not an activist' but was tied to trafficking people — and 'that is the crime.' Sheinbaum said there had been an arrest order pending for García Villagrán for years. It was not known why the outspoken and very public figure had not been arrested earlier. Later Wednesday, Mexican authorities said in a statement that investigators had identified a network of migrant smugglers that used various organizations and foundations as a front to move migrants and drugs through Mexico. They did not provide any details. The joint statement from the Attorney General's Office and security forces said García Villagran's alleged role was obtaining false documentation for migrants to allow them to cross Mexico. The group of migrants that left Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, was small in comparison to migrant caravans in years past. There has been very little movement of migrants in public since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, though migration numbers had been falling even prior to that. Those walking Wednesday said their goal was not to reach the United States, but rather central Mexico. They complained that they had been waiting for months to legalize their status or receive asylum. In recent years, the Mexican government has worked to contain migrants in southern Mexico — far from the border with the U.S. At times, this strategy has swollen migrant numbers in Tapachula until hundreds set out walking in protest. Chiapas is Mexico's poorest state and migrants complain there is little work or available housing. On Wednesday, Johnny López of Ecuador walked with his wife and three children, including a baby born in Tapachula. They had waited in the southern city for the outcome of their asylum application, which was eventually rejected. Now they planned to travel to Mexico City, where López hopes to find work to support his family. The migrants were escorted by immigration agents, police, marines and paramedics. Heyman Vázquez, a Catholic priest who accompanied the migrants, called García Villagran's arrest 'unjust.' Vázquez said it showed the Mexican government's concern over migrant caravans, which he said would be resolved by making it easier for migrants to legalize their status. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at The Associated Press
3 days ago
- Politics
About 300 migrants start walk north from southern Mexico. Their goal is not the US border
TAPACHULA, Mexico -- Escorted by police and accompanied by a Catholic priest, about 300 migrants began walking north on Wednesday from southern Mexico, even as the activist who helped organize them remained in police custody over allegations of human trafficking. On Tuesday, authorities arrested Luis García Villagrán, the leader of a local nongovernmental organization in the city of Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, for alleged crimes related to his work with migrants. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said during her daily news briefing on Wednesday that he was 'not an activist' but was tied to trafficking people — and 'that is the crime.' Sheinbaum said there had been an arrest order pending for García Villagrán for years. It was not known why the outspoken and very public figure had not been arrested earlier. Later Wednesday, Mexican authorities said in a statement that investigators had identified a network of migrant smugglers that used various organizations and foundations as a front to move migrants and drugs through Mexico. They did not provide any details. The joint statement from the Attorney General's Office and security forces said García Villagran's alleged role was obtaining false documentation for migrants to allow them to cross Mexico. The group of migrants that left Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, was small in comparison to migrant caravans in years past. There has been very little movement of migrants in public since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, though migration numbers had been falling even prior to that. Those walking Wednesday said their goal was not to reach the United States, but rather central Mexico. They complained that they had been waiting for months to legalize their status or receive asylum. In recent years, the Mexican government has worked to contain migrants in southern Mexico — far from the border with the U.S. At times, this strategy has swollen migrant numbers in Tapachula until hundreds set out walking in protest. Chiapas is Mexico's poorest state and migrants complain there is little work or available housing. On Wednesday, Johnny López of Ecuador walked with his wife and three children, including a baby born in Tapachula. They had waited in the southern city for the outcome of their asylum application, which was eventually rejected. Now they planned to travel to Mexico City, where López hopes to find work to support his family. The migrants were escorted by immigration agents, police, marines and paramedics. Heyman Vázquez, a Catholic priest who accompanied the migrants, called García Villagran's arrest 'unjust.' Vázquez said it showed the Mexican government's concern over migrant caravans, which he said would be resolved by making it easier for migrants to legalize their status. ____
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Mexican authorities arrest outspoken activist ahead of a planned migrant caravan
TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Authorities arrested an outspoken activist and immigration advocate in southern Mexico on Tuesday, a day before a group of migrants was planning to march to the country's capital to protest their treatment. According to a federal official, Luis García Villagrán was arrested in Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, for alleged crimes related to his work with migrants. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case. García Villagran's relatives who were waiting outside the Attorney General offices in the southern city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, declined to comment. The activist-lawyer has accompanied many caravans over the years that formed in Tapachula, demanding safe passage to the U.S. border or speedier processing of asylum applications in Mexico. The caravan planned for Wednesday had the more limited goal of reaching Mexico City, where there are more opportunities for work, since U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has effectively shut off the possibility of requesting asylum at the U.S. border. In recent years, the Mexican government has worked to contain migrants in southern Mexico — far from the border with the United States. At times, this strategy has swollen migrant numbers in Tapachula until hundreds set out walking in protest. Chiapas is Mexico's poorest state and migrants complain there is little work or available housing. Last year, some migrants accused García Villagran of extortion and state prosecutors opened an investigation. The Chiapas state prosecutor's office has not said where that case stands. Mexican authorities have arrested immigration activists in the past. In 2018, activist Irineo Mújica was arrested as he led a protest in Ciudad Hidalgo, a city at the Guatemala-Mexico border. He heads the organization Pueblo sin Fronteras, or People without Borders, and was accused at the time of property damage and resisting arrest. On Tuesday, Mújica condemned García Villagrán's arrest in a video released on his social platforms and accused the Mexican government of criminalizing immigration and those who advocate for migrants' rights. Mújica was arrested again in 2019 with another activist as the Mexican government negotiated with the first Trump administration to avoid threatened tariffs. They were released days later due to lack of evidence. Cuban migrant Jesús Pérez said on Tuesday the arrest of García Villagran was meant to keep them from leaving Tapachula, 'but we're going to leave.' In recent days, he said, immigration agents and National Guard troops had been carrying out operations in places where migrants gather, calling it an attempt to intimidate them. ___ Verza reported from Mexico City.
