EFE (via 14ymedio), Tijuana, 27 January 2024 — Authorities on the northern border of Mexico warn that at least 8,000 migrants a month pay up to 40,000 dollars to coyotes (traffickers) for a “package of amparos” (protection orders) with the promise to protect them from deportation for free transit through the country.
David Pérez Tejada, head of the National Institute of Migration (INM) in Baja California, said in an interview with EFE that the number of people who arrived with these amparos rose in the last quarter of 2023, with a monthly trend of 8,000 on average; that is, about 300 people per day.
The representative of Migration in the state, bordering California, explained that these amparos are usually promoted in Tabasco, Veracruz and other cities in the center of the country.
There, the coyotes trap them with the idea of an “all-inclusive” package to reach border cities, such as Tijuana, and from there to cross irregularly to the United States.
He explained that some people, after crossing the southern border of Mexico, “already have this kind of package, as if it came from a travel agency.”
“They now fly them from their country of origin to a jungle they must pass through and promise that they will protect them when they cross the border irregularly,” he said.
These packages include a plane ticket from Tapachula or from Mexico City to Tijuana
He added that these packages include a plane ticket from Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala, or from Mexico City to Tijuana.
Once they arrive at this border city, he said, they show the protection order for their fre