Mexico detains 791 undocumented migrants in Veracruz

On Saturday , Mexican officials detained 791 undocumented migrants , the government said, in one of the biggest raids against illegal immigration in recent months, as members of the National Guard began patrolling the southern border .

Through a statement, Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) announced that 791 migrants were found in four trucks stopped in the state of Veracruz , confirming earlier reports about a mass detention .

Migrants

told Mexican immigration officers that traffickers contacted them and that they each paid USD $3,500 to be transported to the U.S.

The detention came as Mexico intensifies its efforts to reduce a surge of Central American migrants toward the U.S. after Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on all Mexican goods if Mexico didn't stop “the invasion ” of the U.S.

As part of those efforts, Mexico has pledged to deploy 6,000 National Guard members along its border with Guatemala .

On June 7, Mexico made a deal with the United States to avert a tariff war , setting the clock ticking on a 45-day period for the Mexican government to make progress in reducing the numbers of people trying to cross the U.S. border illegally.

Mexico’s decision to tighten its border and respond to Trump’s threats has caused tensions within the government , and on Friday, the head of the INM , Tonatiuh Guillen , resigned.

He was replaced by Francisco Garduno , who had previously served as the head of Mexico’s prison system .

144,000 migrants arrived at Mexico-U.S. border in 2019

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