A march has begun from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas northward to the central part of the country, in protest of policies that make legal immigration status difficult to achieve. The march, which set out from the border city of Tapachula near Guatemala, was joined by nearly 300 migrants, asylum seekers, and supporters. However, the demonstration was overshadowed by the arrest one day earlier of one of its leaders, prominent immigration activist Luis Garcia Villagran.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum alleged that Garcia Villagran had been detained for taking part in human trafficking. “That is the crime,” she said, adding that Garcia Villagran was “not an activist”. However, the nonprofit Pueblo Sin Fronteras disputed Sheinbaum’s characterization of Garcia Villagran. “The detention of Luis Villagran, director and human rights defender, is an unacceptable assault,” the nonprofit’s head, Irineo Mujica, wrote in a post to social media.
Mujica argued that Garcia Villagran’s arrest was a political distraction. “This is a smokescreen: dirty and corrupt politics to cover up the true networks of corruption,” he said. Mujica and Garcia Villagran have both been prominent voices in a movement to make legal immigration pathways more accessible. They have also been among the organisers associated with the trend of the migrant “caravans” that travel from southern Mexico to the United States border in recent years.
The march had a different objective than those past caravans, though, particularly as migrants and asylum seekers turn away from the US and seek other destinations. Organisers of the march sought to draw attention to the slow processing time for asylum applications in Mexico and other hurdles to achieving legal immigration status. It also served as a demonstration against Mexican policies that have sought to keep undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in the south of the country, away from the US border.
The Trump administration has pressured Mexico to crack down on immigration into the US, including through the threat of tariffs. Garcia Villagran’s arrest in the hours leading up to the march, however, left some migrants and asylum seekers fearful of taking part in the march. A Catholic priest who took part in the march, Heyman Vazquez, told The Associated Press news agency that Garcia Villagran’s arrest was “unjust”. He added that the arrest revealed a sense of insecurity in the government over the question of migration.
The solution, Vazquez explained, would be to make it easier for migrants and asylum seekers to obtain legal status, thereby removing the need for such protests. The march is a testament to the ongoing struggles of migrants and asylum seekers in Mexico, and the need for greater support and protection for these vulnerable populations.