Hundreds of migrants mount protest in southern Mexico in bid to legalize status

TAPACHULA Mexico AP A group of about asylum seekers set out walking before dawn in southern Mexico on Wednesday aiming for the capital where they hoped to legalize their immigration status and find more work opportunities after a long frustrating wait near the Guatemala boundary Cubans made up the majority of the transients but there were also people from Honduras Ecuador Brazil and Haiti Unlike earlier migrant caravans with a goal to reach the United States Wednesday s group and others over the past year are trying to coerce Mexican agents into speeding up the process for asylum and get out of southern Mexico where there are insufficient work opportunities Cuban migrant Losiel S nchez and his wife arrived in Tapachula near the territory line with Guatemala in November They had hoped to get an appointment through a U S authorities app called CBP One that would allow them to cross the U S boundary request asylum and likely be paroled into the U S while that process played out However U S President Donald Trump has ended that scheme stranding tens of thousands of settlers who had already been making their way toward the U S frontier S nchez decided to stay in Mexico and seek asylum but despite numerous visits to Mexico s asylum agency known as Comar the couple still doesn t have an answer about their status He explained he was scammed by someone claiming to be a lawyer who promised to help speed them through the process Everything is expensive and I can t pay rent explained S nchez who hopes to have better luck in Mexico City There s no work they don t want to give you work if you don t have papers Anery Sosa another Cuban migrant has been in Tapachula for year Her attempt to get asylum was derailed when someone stole her documents She had a daughter with a Mexican and hopes to find someone to take care of her during the day so that she can work Her husband s earnings alone don t cover rent and food she stated The group of movers appeared to have organized without a leader over social platforms where frustrated expatriates rallied to try to walk their way out of southern Mexico In the past Mexican executives have allowed newcomers to walk for a limited days and then offer to help with their documents and sometimes transportation Source