Mexico City, Mexico – Mexico City government officials dismantled a migrant camp in the city on March 13, highlighting the precarious conditions of irregular migrants inside the country following U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration into the United States.
Immigrant rights organizations on Tuesday began denouncing operations in a migrant camp located on the Avenida 100 Metros.
“Mexico City construction crews continue to destroy the migrant camp at the northern terminal, house by house, stealing belongings and claiming that a search has already been conducted, even though this is not true,” wrote Grupo de Monitoreo Frontera Centro (GMFC), a human rights watchdog, in a post on X.
Mexico City authorities said that the dismantling of the encampment was to provide better conditions of shelter for the immigrants:
“The main purpose of these actions was to guarantee the safety of the inhabitants of this camp, as well as to offer them a dignified space that would provide them with the necessary services and a safe environment, while they decide whether to continue their transit, voluntary assisted return or integration into the city.”
The GMFC claimed in a statement that police involved in the raid on the encampment dressed as civilians and city officials intimidated the migrants who had resided in the camp for over a year, announcing that immigration and the military would be deployed and carry out arrests if they did not willfully vacate the camp.
“The authorities went from house to house, even entering the houses without the people’s authorization, pressuring and frightening the people in the camp with euphemisms and false or unclear information. They threatened that they would be forcibly evicted if they did not accept the relocation,” read the initial statement.
By nightfall on March 14 authorities allegedly began dismantling and destroying tents belonging to migrants and, according to the GMFC, allegedly stole property belonging to migrants.
On Thursday, according to the watchdog, armed police officers forcefully apprehended immigrants at the camp and boarded them on buses destined for “Las Agujas,” an immigrant detention center in Mexico City that has become infamous for its accusations of human rights violations.
“According to the testimonies we have received, during the operation there were reports of mistreatment and physical aggression. In addition, there was at least one case of family separation and it was reported that some people had their cell phones taken away,” the human rights group said.
The raid on the migrant camp on Avenida 100 Metros is not isolated. In September 2024, the GMFC had denounced a similar operation in Mexico City, where immigration officers and the police forcefully vacated immigrants living in improvised shelters by detaining them and sending them off to detention centers.
Mexico’s government has been under pressure from the Trump administration to cut down irregular migrant flows to the U.S. border, with Trump recently threatening 25% tariffs on Mexican goods if the country doesn’t stem the flow of migrants and drugs to the border.
Featured image credit: via Movilidad Humana CDMX
