MEXICO CITY — Mexican federal immigration authorities said Thursday they have cleared one of the largest tent camps in central Mexico City of migrant camps.
The National Immigration Institute says the immigrants had been forced to pay bribes of between $12 and $35 to an unnamed official for the right to pitch a tent in such a small space.
Most of the 432 immigrants in the camp had some type of visa allowing them to remain in Mexico and they simply agreed to leave. There were also some Mexicans in the camp, presumably homeless people.
Some 99 immigrants were taken to immigration offices or shelters. More than half of them were from Haiti, and most of the rest were from Venezuela or Central America.
There used to be an office of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance, COMAR, nearby, but that office closed on May 29.
Residents of the exclusive but bohemian neighborhood of Juárez, near the city center, had long complained that the largely paved pedestrian zone had been occupied for years.
They claimed it posed increased crime risks and health hazards and deprived them of one of their few recreational areas.
The closure of these camps has had little political cost. for the Mexican government in the past and has often been well received by local residents.
US President Joe Biden announced major restrictions on migrants seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border earlier this week, which may lead to more migrants remaining in Mexico while they apply.
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