The incidents occurred at the Siglo XXI immigration station in Tapachula, where foreigners are extorted by Mexican officials.
14ymedio, Angel Salinas, Mexico City, August 3, 2026 / Venezuelans Henderson Villaroel Chopite and Howard David Caballero are accused of causing disturbances and setting fire to a mattress used in the dormitories of the Siglo XXI immigration station, located in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, where 40 Cubans are being held, several of them “deported by the US.”
The Venezuelans were detained and taken to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, where they will be processed for immediate deportation, security sources reported. The National Migration Institute (INM) indicated that the protests stemmed from “the dissatisfaction of a group of foreign nationals with their immigration process.”
According to Luis García Villagrán, coordinator of the Center for Human Dignity A.C., this “immigrant prison” is where foreigners deported by the U.S. government are taken. “They are held here against their will for more than 10 days,” he told 14ymedio. They are locked up under the pretext of waiting to find out if Cuba will accept them, but “in reality, that time is used to extort them.”
García Villagrán asserts that the INM commissioner, Sergio Salomón Céspedes, “is aware” of the lack of transparency within the immigration station and the money that agents demand from “the relatives of Cubans who are in the United States and on the Island.”
García Villagrán states that during Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, there are reports of “three deaths” inside the immigration station.
The migrants “are being held incommunicado and are unable to receive legal counsel.” Those with money “are forced to hire lawyers suggested by the agents, people who extort between 30,000 pesos (US$1,730) and 60,000 pesos (US$3,460) to release them” without papers.
According to García Villagrán, in the administration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, there are reports of “three people dead” inside the Siglo XXI immigration station, so he demanded the resignation of the coordinator of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar), Yadira de los Santos Robledo, and the head of Migration in Tapachula, Farah Gertrudis Cerdio Moisés.
Last Saturday, disturbances were reported inside the facility. The migrants were demanding their release after learning of their deportation to their countries of origin. According to data updated through October 2025, the National Migration Institute (INM) deported 21 Cubans for “providing false information and documents and for illegally re-entering the country.” In addition, 74 other migrants and two children were returned to the island through “assisted returns.”
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