Mexicans aid Central American immigrants

by Betty McMahon    October 16, 2008

In a rare instance of Mexicans siding with Central American immigrants, townspeople in Rafael Lara Grajales, Mexico, came to their aid as police tried herding them into a van.

They were apparently responding to news that the police had sold the three dozen illegals to human smugglers for $100 apiece.

The smugglers held the immigrants for four days at a house, but they escaped Sunday, Oct. 12, with the townspeople's help. The illegals waited in the plaza outside the mayor's office as hundreds gathered to lend support for their plight. When a van arrived to transport the migrants away, violence erupted. With 20 or so on board the vehicle, the crowd chased it, hurling rocks. Police drove the crowd away with tear gas.

Some migrants were able to jump out of the van's windows, while members of the crowd set fire to a patrol car, two motorcycles and a truck. Police arrested eight rioters, but five police officers are being investigated for their part in selling the migrants.

It is not unusual for Central American immigrants to be the objects of extortion as they cross Mexico. No one knows why in this instance, Mexicans in the little farming town decided to help them.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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