"On a hot, stormy Monday in September, a Mexican government van labeled Gobernación pulled up to a series of large tents set up in a parking lot in Tapachula, a city near the Guatemalan border. One by one, men, women and children, many wearing clothing received in U.S. government custody, stepped out of the van and followed Mexican immigration officials inside a tent with rows of chairs arranged as though for a lecture. None of the new arrivals was wearing shoelaces, removed so those in U.S. custody don't use them to attempt suicide."
"From beneath a colorful canopy, the voice of a nearby vendor called out his wares, which included cigarettes and shaved ice. A sign hanging on the fence around the tents read "México te abraza," or "Mexico embraces you." The immigration official driving the van said he would return to the airport to pick up more people. In total, about four vans full of people arrived at the tents that afternoon."
A Mexican government van brought deported men, women and children to a temporary reception center of large tents in a Tapachula parking lot. Many arrivals wore clothing provided in U.S. custody and had shoelaces removed for safety. Vendors sold items nearby and a sign declared "México te abraza." Officials said vans would return to the airport to fetch more people, and several vans arrived that afternoon. Vans from the Secretaria de Gobernación have long moved migrants around Tapachula. Mexican nationals have been deported by plane to southern cities far from established return infrastructure.
Read at Truthout
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