Thriving network of fixers preys on migrants crossing Mexico
Associated PressTAPACHULA, Mexico — When migrants arrive to the main crossing point into southern Mexico -- a steamy city with no job opportunities, a place packed with foreigners eager to keep moving north -- they soon learn the only way to cut through the red tape and expedite what can be a monthslong process is to pay someone. The lawyer described to AP another way to get migrants legal status in Mexico: buying a crime report from a prosecutor’s office, which can open the door to the humanitarian visa. Asked by AP, the Chiapas state prosecutor’s office said one official was dismissed in July and an investigation was recently opened into the sale of crime reports. Asked if she’d ever paid an official in her job, Espinoza said: “It’s not necessary to pay an immigration official.” “We’re not benefiting, nor robbing, nor doing anything outside the law,” she said. Espinoza reiterated to AP that the allegations of Vázquez, her colleagues and others are false: “If the Institute of Public Defenders doesn’t know how to do its job on immigration issues, it’s not the fault of private lawyers,” she said.
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Photos: Network of fixers preys on migrants crossing into Mexico
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