Published March 25, 2026
An estimated 500 migrants and asylum seekers began marching in southern Mexico to express their dissatisfaction with the local immigration system.
The group left Tapachula, near the Mexico-Guatemala border, on Tuesday night and continued walking until Wednesday.
Their route followed the route taken by many immigrants and asylum seekers when entering Mexico. The border town of Tapachula has been the scene of such protests in the past.
The demonstration was aimed at drawing attention to the difficulty of applying for legal status in Mexico.
Many participants cited long lines and restrictions on movement as obstacles to finding work and accessing legal immigration routes.
The Southern Border Monitoring Collective, a coalition of civil society organizations, also noted that some migrants are being asked to pay nearly $2,300 for legally free documentation in Mexico.
Other supporters decried increased militarization along the Mexican border, saying it threatens the safety of migrants and asylum seekers.
“Without documents, we have no chance. As immigrants, we feel like prisoners in Tapachula,” said Joandri Velasquez Zaragoza, 40, a Cuban national.
Partly under pressure from the United States, Mexico is stepping up immigration enforcement.
Since returning to the White House for a second term, President Donald Trump has launched a campaign of mass deportations from the United States, and irregular border crossings from Mexico into the United States have plummeted.
Trump administration lawyers also reportedly argued in court that Mexico had agreed to take in 6,000 Cubans expelled from the United States, although they suggested such an agreement was a “continuing (unwritten) agreement.”
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston, Massachusetts, questioned the claims and demanded answers.
“What?” Young wrote in the order Wednesday. “Is this true? Is there an unwritten agreement between sovereign nations that 6,000 Cuban citizens have already been deported to Mexico? Is this arrangement a secret?”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The Trump administration has repeatedly called on “third country” countries to deport non-citizens. Meanwhile, in an effort to destabilize the country’s government, it has restricted fuel imports to Cuba since January.
