Claims of police brutality are rising in Mexico as immigration officials and federal police try to stop caravans of Caribbean migrants from making their way north.
The controversy began over the weekend when more than a thousand migrants from Caribbean countries grew tired of waiting for travel documents to leave the southern Mexican border. According to Proceso, the group left Tapachula, Chiapas, and began walking inland. Unlike previous migrant caravans, this one did not start in Central America is does not appear to include many from the Northern Triangle.
Since then, agents with Mexico’s National Guard and National Immigration Institute (INM) have been clashing with the migrants as they try to detain them.
So far, three groups or small caravans have tried to leave the southern state and clashed with authorities.
Since the start of the week, photographs and videos circulated on social media capturing numerous violent clashes.
In one, a video shows an INM agent kicking a migrant on the ground, which led to the suspension of two agents and an ongoing investigation into police brutality.
Media personalities bashed Mexico’s government, claiming President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is doing the bidding of the U.S. by stopping the caravans.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.