Hundreds of migrants sat on the roofs of railroad cars in Arriaga, in southern Mexico, waiting for the train to take them north toward the United States. Washington’s immigration overhaul would tighten border security between Mexico and the United States to stem illegal crossings. But Mexico’s other border, with Central America to the south, makes the task even harder. A growing number of Central American migrants heading to the United States cross freely under the gaze of Mexican authorities.
NYTimes report:
In Trek North, First Lure Is Mexico’s Other Line
In Washington, the biggest immigration overhaul in decades would tighten border security between Mexico and the United States to stem the flow of illegal crossings.
But there is another border making the task all the more challenging: Mexico’s porous boundary with Central America, where an increasing number of migrants heading to the United States cross freely into Mexico under the gaze of the Mexican authorities. So many Central Americans are fleeing the violence, crime and economic stagnation of their homes that American officials have encountered a tremendous spike in migrants making their way through Mexico to the United States.
American arrests of illegal crossers from countries other than Mexico — mostly from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador — more than doubled along the southwest border of the United States last year, to 94,532 from 46,997 in 2011.
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