126 Migrants Found Overcrowded in Safe House in Sonora, Two Arrested for Human Trafficking
Sonora authorities made a disturbing discovery on Friday as they uncovered a safe house in the municipality of Sonoyta, where 126 migrants were found severely overcrowded. Two individuals involved in the incident have been arrested and are now facing charges of human trafficking.
Disturbing images from the scene depict dozens of people sitting outside a house, where they had been locked up for an extended period of time. Thankfully, the police have secured the building, putting an end to the dire conditions in which these individuals were being held.
The Sonora Prosecutor’s Office is now launching an investigation into the situation of these migrants, who are of Ecuadorian origin. The migrants have been on a months-long journey in an attempt to reach the US border and cross into the United States, their intended destination. Francisco Sergio Méndez, the head of the Attorney General’s Office in Sonora, reported that the migrants seemed to have brought “legal documentation” for their trip. However, it remains unclear whether they had been kidnapped for the purpose of human trafficking or if they were planning to cross the Rio Grande in search of better opportunities.
Sonoyta, where the safe house was located, is situated just five kilometers away from the US border and shares a border with the small town of Lukeville in Arizona.
This week, Francisco Garduño Yáñez, commissioner of the National Institute of Migration (INM), was in the area, dedicating his trip to alerting about the emergence of new migratory routes. Garduño Yáñez has been speaking about an increase in the number of detained migrants of African, Asian, and Eastern European origin. These new routes are facilitating the illegal trafficking of undocumented immigrants from Mexico to the United States.
Incidents of migrant “rescues” by immigration authorities are becoming more and more frequent, highlighting the complexities of the current policy coordination with the United States. While there are discussions around respecting the human rights of migrants and removing the buoys installed in the Rio Grande by the Texas state government, migrants “rescued” by security forces are often detained and sent back to their home countries.
In a similar incident on July 28, the staff of the Migration Institute found 154 migrants who were being held in a safe house in Sonoyta, Sonora. The migrants in this case were of African, Asian, and South American origin, with a significant number of minors among them. This follows a previous incident on May 8, when 49 migrants were discovered on a farm in the Cruz de Elorza community in the State of Nuevo León.
The continuous uncovering of such facilities raises concerns over the well-being and safety of migrants, as well as the need for improved collaboration and action to combat human trafficking.