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, mustached 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."
President Trump, if not nothing," to stop immigration. But Mexico has actually assembled an aggressive enforcement strategy, with U.S. backing.
