Mexican immigration officials appear to be intervening more aggressively with the movements of Central American migrants trying to make their way through Mexico and to the U.S. via a sprawling caravan.
A taxi driver in the southern Mexico town of Mapastepec recounted Thursday having seen immigration agents force migrant passengers out of cabs at a checkpoint. Later, hundreds of migrants were given free passage at the same checkpoint as Mexican officials watched.
An official from Mexico’s Human Rights Commission said migrants can go through if they are in vans or trucks that offered them rides for free. But if they paid fares, they must get out because of insurance regulations. Migrants may also walk through the checkpoint. The human rights official, who was in uniform, said he was not authorized to speak about the matter and did not give his name.