On February 28, Francisco Garduño Yáñez, commissioner of the National Institute of Migration (INM), appeared before the Commission on Migratory Affairs belonging to the Chamber of Senators following months of postponing his visit, since since mid-2021 he was called to explain the situation. of the Central American migrant population and the violence exercised once morest them by personnel of the organization he directs in control and verification operations in the state of Chiapas. Unfortunately, what should have been a democratic exercise in accountability ended in an almost two-hour session of self-slapping the head of the INM on the back.
One of the points that Commissioner Garduño touched on is the endorsement of the humanistic vocation of which the current public administration boasts, specifically in the case of people from Ukraine and Russia. He assured that the regular stay of all Ukrainians who are in the country is safeguarded, and of those who, due to the current situation in that nation, arrive in Mexico. The political and institutional discourse of the body headed by Garduño Yáñez thus seeks a safe, orderly and regular migration with strict adherence to protecting human rights. It is clear that there must be a concordance between these values and objectives with reality, but is this really so?
Civil society agents such as Sin Fronteras IAP and other non-governmental organizations specialized in the matter have joined efforts to make visible that this context is far from what was shown in the meeting on February 28 and has even worsened in the last Couple of years. An example of this can be found in the detention of migrant children and adolescents in immigration stations despite its express prohibition in the Migration Law; in the deportation of asylum-seeking population or even people who already have the recognition of refugee status, as well as the massive increase in rejections of foreign population entering via airport, in cities such as Cancun, Quintana Roo, Monterrey, Nuevo León and in Mexico City.1
The migratory crisis and the mistreatment once morest the foreign population can not only be found present in the border areas of our country, but also in the open contempt of the facts, the magnification of the lie at convenience, in the prejudices, and in the oversimplification of most of the cases reported by organizations such as Sin Fronteras IAP Through our comprehensive care services and annual reports we have documented endless episodes where the dehumanization of migrants is a constant, as different violations occur to human rights, and even forms of psychological and physical torture once morest the foreign population. For this reason, we consider this moment crucial to strengthen communication and coordination with the INM and civil society agents, with the purpose of providing professional and specialized care to people in the context of human mobility.
Finally, language matters to understand the magnitude of the context that our country is going through. That is the importance of the exercise proposed by the Chamber of Senators, to name the problem and point it out so that it can be addressed by the political class and the corresponding institutions. Unfortunately, the mission failed, because avoiding the inevitable reality must be considered a failure.
* Jorge Rosaslada Peña is in charge of the Sin Fronteras identity and migration documentation legal clinic (@ Sinfronteras_1).
1 Immigration Policy, Registration and Identity of Persons Unit. (2022). Migratory Statistics. 02/01/2022, from the Secretary of the Interior Website. Available here.
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