Mexico: 3000 Migrants March in Protest To Speed Up US Asylum

After being detained for months in southern Mexico, thousands of asylum seekers decided to organize a new caravan on Sunday in protest and make their way north to the capital.

Tapachula, a city on Guatemala's southern border, saw an early start from the caravan of migrants, most of whom are from Venezuela. Some of them estimated that it would take them around ten days to get to Mexico City, said Reuters.

Every year, thousands of migrants from Central America walk together to Mexico in search of protection, crossing multiple states on their way to a legal entry point into the United States.

Tapachula officials have estimated that there are 3,000 people in the new caravan, many of whom are from China and other Asian countries.

"We joined the caravan to be safer and not be detained," said Yoani, a Venezuelan migrant.

He claimed his family had no more funds to complete the necessary legal procedures in Mexico City before continuing their journey.

The latest caravan was staged as a form of protest by Mexico migrants seeking the closure of detention camps, according to Irineo Mujica, director of the non-profit Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders).

Mexico Migrant Protest Has Been Happening for Years

Mexico migrant protests have been held frequently with a religious theme throughout Holy Week for years to highlight the plight of migrants and call attention to their needs, AP reports.

These processions are the forerunners to the current migrant caravan phenomena. In 2018, only a small percentage of participants made it to the border with the United States.

Mjica labeled this year's mass trek as a "Viacrucis," or stations of the cross procession, and some migrants even brought wooden crosses.

Mjica said in Tapachula before the long walk began that they are doing the Viacrucis, demanding "the government for justice to be done to the killers and for them to stop hiding high-ranking officials."

He added that they also demand the closure of these prisons and the dissolution of the National Immigration Institute.

Some Mexico migrants carried crosses or banners that read, "The Government Killed Them" or "Government Crime."

After setting off from Tapachula at sunrise, the migrants only made it 9 miles (14 kilometers) to Alvaro Obregon before deciding to settle in for the day.

The park at Alvaro Obregon had a covered athletic court and trees where the migrants could rest.

US-Mexico Border Fire Killed at Least 40

A dormitory fire at an immigration detention facility in northern Mexico, close to the U.S.-Mexico border, has killed at least 40 individuals, with another 29 injured.

The National Immigration Institute in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, located south of El Paso, Texas, caught fire late last month.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, president of Mexico, said migrants who feared deportation ignited the fire.

Those hurt were rushed to the hospital, and the source of the fire was investigated without delay. The victims' conditions were categorized as "delicate or serious." A notification was also sent to the National Human Rights Commission.

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: 3,000 migrants begin walk north from south Mexico in mass protest - From Associated Press