Migrants describe overcrowded Mexican detention centers as Trump ratchets up pressure
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS JUNE 23, 2019 / 7:14 AM / UPDATED 15 MINUTES AGO
Migrants describe overcrowded Mexican detention centers as Trump ratchets up pressure
Delphine Schrank
7 MIN READ
TAPACHULA, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexicos immigration centers are becoming increasingly squalid and overcrowded as authorities step up the detention of migrants headed for the United States, with inmates languishing for weeks amid medical neglect, according to detainees, lawyers and rights groups.
Reuters spoke to more than a dozen recent detainees at the Siglo XXI detention center, the countrys largest. They described being held in the facility in Chiapas state on Mexicos southern border for long periods without information about their cases.
The detainees reported severe overcrowding, sparse water and food, and limited healthcare.
Their accounts were supported by two lawyers representing 26 other inmates, as well as the migration ombudsman at Mexicos National Human Rights Commission and reports from two migrant rights groups: Fray Matias de Cordova and the Human Rights Observation Mission for the Refugee and Humanitarian Crisis in Southeast Mexico, a collective of 24 aid groups.
Twelve of the detainees told Reuters they were held for at least three weeks in the center, meant to hold people for a maximum of 15 days until their cases are processed.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-immigration/migrants-describe-overcrowded-mexican-detention-centers-as-trump-ratchets-up-pressure-idUSKCN1TO0DF