TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico, March 20, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Mexico will step up
security along its southern border with Guatemala to stop child migrants
crossing on their way to the United States, the authorities said Friday.
The announcement comes after an increase in flows of undocumented migrants
heading north following US President Joe Biden’s immigration reforms.
The operations on the southern border are aimed at protecting child
migrants who are “exploited by criminal networks,” the National Migration
Institute (NMI) said.
Patrols will use drones and night vision equipment for surveillance in
areas where undocumented migrants are known to cross the border, it said.
Since January more than 4,000 Central American minors have been identified
who “traveled irregularly in Mexican territory,” according to the NMI.
People traffickers are telling migrants to bring children to make it
easier to enter Mexico and the United States, it said.
According to social workers in Mexico’s northeastern city of Matamoros,
children are brought by parents or relatives to the border and sent over the
border alone.
Once across, they are handed over to the Department of Health and Human
Services, which helps them connect with family contacts inside the United
States.
Mothers with small children are also sometimes allowed to stay, while
undocumented adults crossing over alone are swiftly deported.
Facing growing political pressure, Biden this week urged migrants not to
come.
Mexico’s southern border has been patrolled since 2019 by the National
Guard to stop migrant caravans crossing over.
On Thursday Mexico announced restrictions on non-essential land traffic at
the frontier with Guatemala that it said were aimed at curbing the spread of
Covid-19.
The move coincided with a pledge by the United States to send AstraZeneca
coronavirus vaccines to Mexico to help alleviate a shortage of doses.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Friday that 2.7 million doses were
expected to arrive next week.