“They don’t let us go out, they have us kidnapped,” he tells 14ymedio Roberto, a Cuban who along with his wife Diana have been staying for months at the Zozaya immigration station in Guadalupe, located in the Mexican state of Nuevo León. They are, he stresses, “overcrowded and isolated” and without the authorities defining their status.
In the group of foreigners there are people who have been in the place for 75, 80 and 90 days, says Roberto, and although the immigration authorities tell them they have legal advice, they do not allow them to communicate with lawyers. “Human rights representatives who visit the center are passed through another door,” he warns.
This Wednesday they were also prevented from communicating with the representative of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (Comar) who visited the station. The director of the Zozaya, Jorge Luis Muñoz “did not allow him to speak to us,” explained the migrant from Havana. When Roberto asked Muñoz who was going to attend to them, the answer “in a bad way was that they did not know anything” and that the official was prohibited from approaching the undocumented.
“Human rights representatives who visit the center are passed through another door”
Roberto and Diana, who have been in Mexico since July 30, say that they were approached by immigration agents Sergio and Juan at a checkpoint located near the town of San Roberto, in the municipality of Galeana (Nuevo León). They demanded money to let them continue, but “since we didn’t give them the amount they asked for, they brought us here.”
The Mexican government has put a heavy hand against irregular foreigners. It was useless for the Cuban couple to present the amparos that a judge had granted them to avoid being arrested on their way to northern Mexico.
Another case is that of Lorenzo and his wife, they were taken to the shelter by immigration agents with the promise of providing support. “My wife is hypertensive, she had to suspend treatment,” he also complains that they are constantly mistreated. “You can’t even go to the bathroom.”
Meanwhile, the Zozaya authorities rejected the foreigners’ accusations: “We have no detainees,” one of the agents responded to this newspaper. “The condition of the people is being reviewed, this takes a few days.” When questioned about the materials uploaded on social networks, the official cut the conversation and stated: “they are fake news“.
The desperation of the Cubans and other migrants from Venezuela led them to riot last Sunday at the immigration station. “Some managed to escape,” said the Venezuelan Yoan Castillo in a video broadcast on social networks this Tuesday. “I have 30 days here without my situation being defined. What we want is to take the process outside.” Since that Sunday, the Civil Force unit has registered the request for support for “mutiny” and “escape” without the report of a detainee.
The Zozaya center has become a point of “extortion” and “xenophobia”, say the migrants, some have paid from 1,500 to 3,000 dollars in an attempt to leave the place. “They tell you that they take you out, but it’s a lie, many are still here,” revealed one of the undocumented through a mobile message that you sent to the portal Migrant Connection and was attended by journalist Diana Hernández.
This Tuesday, members of the National Institute of Migration (INM) carried out a surprise inspection in the place to remove the cell phones and prevent the dissemination of more videos that show “the lack of care, medicines and food in poor condition” that they offer .
The abuses in this migrant center have been denounced for some time. Last June, the State Human Rights Commission recommended make the necessary adjustments to avoid overcrowding, since this limits, he specified, “access to medical, psychological, legal, consular, food and communication services.”
“I have 30 days here without my situation being defined. What we want is to take the process outside”
In September 2020, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) found that 122 migrants remained “24 hours a day in rooms, without access to natural light or ventilation”, with restrictions on the use of toilets and showers without divisions. The poor conditions of the place, the commission said, caused a child under five months to suffer from “bacterial pneumonia.”
While this is happening, the INM announced that it delivered visitor cards for humanitarian reasons and permanent resident cards to 800 foreigners who are marching with the caravan that left the state of Chiapas for the United States.
Mexico has detected more than 190,000 undocumented immigrants from January to September, almost triple the number in 2020, in addition to having deported some 74,300, according to the Migration Policy Unit of the Ministry of the Interior.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our journal. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
