Migrants, in record numbers, are now seeking asylum in Mexico, according to Bloomberg.
In just the last 10 months, 108,195 migrants from outside the country have sought asylum in Mexico, Andres Ramirez, director of the country’s refugee office said. The figure represents a 73% increase from the same period in 2019, which recorded the previous record high.
Ramirez noted that many of the recent Brazilian and Chilean applicants looking for asylum in southern Mexico were children of Haitians who had been in those countries before traveling to Mexico.
The jump in asylum claims in Mexico "is partly due to the refusal by the U.S. government to open its asylum system," said Rodolfo Cruz Pineiro, director of the population studies department at Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana. "Mexico’s government is forced to open its refugee system more. However, the budget allocated for these migrants is scarce."
Reuters reported that many Haitians do not meet the qualifications to gain refuge in Mexico since they left home years ago for economic reasons. Many are headed to the U.S. as a result of poor economic conditions in their new counties, Ramirez told the outlet.
"They're not really refugees, they don't even want to be refugees," Ramirez said. "The majority want to get to the United States."
Meanwhile, Reuters has also reported hundreds of migrants from Central America and the Caribbean traveled across Mexico late last month. It marked the latest in a series of caravans that have sought to reach the U.S. border in recent months.
The U.S. has registered record levels of migration this year, the outlet reported. It noted Customs and Border Protection agents have apprehended or expelled more than 1.7 million migrants over the last 12 months.
The latest caravan members included families with young children, according to a Reuters witness.
The source estimated that about 2,000 migrants had gathered last week in Huixtla in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas to rest and receive medical attention before resuming their journey north.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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