Criminals Target Migrants In Mexico Seeking U.S. Asylum

NPR reports that migrants subject to the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy are not safe and are targets of criminals.

According to NPR, the Cartel of the Northeast operates with impunity here, cruising around town in armored, olive-drab pickups with Tropas del Infierno, Spanish for “Soldiers from Hell,” emblazoned on the doors.

A pastor named remains missing after recently being kidnapped from the Love Migrant House, a shelter he operated. One news report says extortionists grabbed Mendez when he refused to turn over Cuban migrants they wanted to shake down.

As NPR describes things,

“This is where the U.S. is sending migrants who have asked for asylum after crossing the Rio Grande near Laredo, Texas.  More than 30,000 migrants have been sent back to Mexican border cities to await their day in U.S. immigration court under the “remain in Mexico” program. They are sent back from U.S. ports of entry and given a date — generally from two to four months in the future — to return and make their case for asylum before an immigration judge on a video link. About 4,500 of them have been sent to Nuevo Laredo, where mayhem is rampant and extorting migrants has become the cartel’s latest income stream.”

KJ