Mexico Deploys A Formidable Deportation Force Near Its Own Southern Border
On the Suchiate River dividing Mexico and Guatemala, it sure looks easy to cross north without papers.
A young, mustachioed man is pulling a makeshift raft across the quiet river via two ropes connecting the countries. The crossing costs 4 quetzales, 10 pesos or 50 U.S. cents. The raft captain says that nearby migration officials rarely intervene.
But the impression that Mexico is lax on migrants disappears as you head just a little north.
"They put up lots of checkpoints," says Gustavo Rivera, a bus driver shuttling between Mexico's southeastern border and the nearest city, Tapachula. "Immigration [agents], federal police, soldiers, local police. I don't get many migrants on the bus anymore because of the checkpoints."
Read more: http://tpr.org/post/mexico-deploys-formidable-deportation-force-near-its-own-southern-border
