Residents of a rural Mexican town say they’ve been inundated with immigrants in recent years — and the split serves as a preview of what some American cities may soon face.
Thousands of migrants flock to Tapachula in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas from Central America, Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela on their way to the US, a local businessman in the coffee trade recently told The Post.
This influx has burdened residents who have worked on local farms for generations but now face increasing competition for jobs and housing as migrants use their towns as stopovers.
Local residents are also fighting against the presence of human and drug traffickers drawn to the area to take advantage of the newly arrived crowds.
“The city has been almost unrecognizable for the past few years,” said the coffee industry businessman. “It’s just a wave of people. The locals didn’t know what to think. The place they lived in for so long suddenly became different.”
Migrants line up outside a checkpoint waiting to have their documentation checked in Tapachula in Mexico’s Chiapas state on September 12, 2023.Juan Manuel Blanco/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock A caravan of migrants walks along a road in Tapachula on its way to the US-Mexico border Oct. 31. 2023.AFP via Getty Images
Tapachula’s problems are an indicator of how things will play out for more US cities, residents added. Just last week, 3,000 migrants gathered in the city on foot towards the US border.
Locals in the city say that while the immigrants stay in their areas, old residents who dutifully obtain permits to sell simple goods on the streets and in area markets have to compete with newcomers who don’t care about such legal formalities and crowd them out.
Growing competition is making it difficult for Mexicans to scrap their existing livelihoods, forcing them to find other means of income in a challenging economic climate, residents said.
A flood of new arrivals to Tapachula has driven up housing costs, residents complain.REUTERS A large wooden doll named “Little Amal” from an art project titled “The Walk” depicts a 10-year-old Syrian girl who has become a world symbol of refugee rights.ZUMAPRESS.com Migrant take to the streets in Tapachula as police officers look on during a demonstration for rights Oct. 26. 2023. Juan Manuel Blanco/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The flood of newcomers has also increased the cost of local housing, from small rooms to apartments. With demand for residential space exploding, property owners are able to charge higher fees, making it a challenge for Mexicans to get a roof over their heads, locals gripe.
Other residents of the city said heightened tensions over such issues, as well as cultural clashes, were beginning to worsen as streets became clogged with more migrants waiting for a chance to reach the United States.
The Tapachulan people, who are mostly indigenous, are a modest traditional community and are reluctant to voice their concerns with the influx of immigrants to the city, observers say.
But the concentration of migrants has also attracted the attention of human traffickers and drug cartels, who see potential profit in the desperate masses.
Hundreds of migrants wait for their documents to be checked at Tapachula Ecopark on Oct. 23. 2023.Juan Manuel Blanco/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The concentration of migrants in Tapachula has also attracted the attention of human traffickers and drug cartels, both of whom see potential profit in the desperate masses. AFP via Getty Images Migrants who failed to receive temporary transit papers rest at a sports complex in Huixtla, Mexico, north of Tapachula on Wednesday, November 1, 2023. AP Tapachula officials — both border control officers and police — were overwhelmed by the number of new arrivals who are many and not ready to deal with their complaints.REUTERS
The cartel’s presence has made it difficult for locals to run basic businesses and many are concerned for their own safety as the crisis continues, residents said.
Local officials – both border control officers and police – are overwhelmed by the sheer number of new arrivals and are unprepared to deal with their complaints, residents say.
Disputes often erupt in local markets, with some migrants complaining about the price or availability of certain goods.
Migrants wait for transit papers while they rest in Tapachula on their way to the US-Mexico border Nov. 1. 2023.AP
Locals who cow are scared and don’t want to push, sources said.
“Many of these people are desperate and want to work and better themselves,” the source said of the migrants. “But it has a real impact on people here who are already struggling.”
Last week, a caravan of about 3,000 migrants left Tapachula for the US and eventually blocked the highway to demand faster and safer passage to Mexico’s northern border.
The promoter of the ban, activist Irineo Mújica, defended the move, arguing that migrants live in fear of being preyed upon by extortionists and other criminal elements.
“We know we caused discomfort for the Mexican people, and we apologize,” he said. “But the drug cartels kidnapped us, killed us.”
With AP
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
