14ymedio, Ángel Salinas, Mexico City, 8 August 2024 — Last Friday, in the company of his sister and uncle, the Cuban Yeison Cedeño López went to the offices of the Mexican Refugee Assistance Commission (COMAR) of Tapachulas, in the state of Chiapas, to apply for asylum from the Mexican Government. The officials, however, warned him that they would only let him do so it if his intention was to “stay in Mexico,” since the application to apply for asylum to the United States from that state – recently announced by the authorities – is not yet available.
Cedeño and his family have been in the state bordering Guatemala for almost three months, and during that time they have made several requests to allow them to stay in Mexican territory and prevent them from being deported, but dealing with the institutions has not been easy. To begin with, Cedeño had to protect himself from being arrested and deported. Each amparo (protection order) cost 1,350 Mexican pesos (71 dollars), and the money is due on August 17.
“They had us waiting for three hours and when we entered we filled out a few sheets. They gave us a copy and asked us to return in three months,” Cedeño tells 14ymedio.
Cedeño’s goal is to reach the United States. “I have a sister in Utah. She is helping us, and with the work we’re doing here and her help, we have enough to eat and can cover accommodation,” he says. He recently learned that the U.S. Government’s CBP One application will soon be available in Chiapas and Tabasco.
As he explains, despite the fact that he will apply for refuge in the United States as soon as the application is approved, he decided to do so also in Mexico in case he has to “redo the CBP One. We’re not going back to Cuba; anywhere else is better,” he says. At the door of the Refugee Assistance Commission there is a sign indicating that from August 12, the delivery of appointments will begin again, explains Cedeño.
An official confirmed to this newspaper that these appointments are the ones corresponding to the month of May, so those who submitted their applications in June and July “will have to continue with their weekly signature – the process requires that they go to the office every week to sign the documents – and continue waiting for their turn.”
The official also confirmed that in recent weeks there has been an increase in the transit of migrants through the state, especially of small groups of migrants, which is called “ant migration.”
Likewise, the state authorities have identified several groups that began the crossing in San Pedro Sula in the direction of the municipality of Ciudad Hidalgo, where they met. The group was concentrated in the municipality of Suchiate. “The departure of the caravan is scheduled for August 11 or 12, while other groups of between 15 and 20 people who are arriving from San Pedro Sula are organized and waiting,” the official said.
Cubans are the second largest group of migrants who arrive at the COMAR, with 19,803 recorded, only behind Honduras. Cuba is followed by Haiti, 4,022 applications; El Salvador, with 3,842 and Guatemala, with 2,671. Unlike other years, only 2,549 Venezuelans have passed through this institution.
According to the figures offered by the Government of Mexico, so far this year about 9,914 Cubans have gone to one of the eight offices that the agency has in Baja California, Palenque, Tapachula, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Saltillo, Tabasco and Veracruz, because in Mexico City the procedures have been paused by a change of headquarters. Just between June and July, more than 1,000 applicants from the Island were counted.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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