By EFE
03 Jul 2024, 16:59 PM EDT
Authorities in Chihuahua, a state on the border between Mexico and the United States, warned of a monthly increase of 33% in homicides in the state capital of the same name and of 7% in Ciudad Juárez, which coincides with a drop in migration.
The phenomenon is due to the fact that criminal groups that traffic people are now fighting over the scarce migrants, explained the Secretary of Public Security of the State, Gilberto Loya Chávez, and the mayor of Ciudad Juárez, Cruz Pérez Cuéllar, in a conference.
The city of Chihuahua suffered the largest spike, while in Juarez June was the second deadliest month of the year, with 106 homicides, only below January, when there were 125.
“In the municipality of Chihuahua, unfortunately, 52 people lost their lives in June, due to the intentional homicides that occurred in the month. Compared to the month of May, it is an increase of 33%, we had 39 in May. Ciudad Juárez went from 99 in May to 106 in June,” added Loya Chávez.
More murders and fewer migrants
These figures follow the more than 40% drop reported last Wednesday by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in migrant arrests on its southern border since the executive order of June 5 to restrict asylum and expedite deportations.
While Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said last Thursday that migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border have fallen by more than 72%, to 3,479 on June 25, from 12,498 on December 18, the highest point of last year, thanks to the cooperation of his government.
The mayor of Juarez said that they are constantly working to reduce homicides, but human trafficking is the main factor in this increase.
“We have detected that this reduction (of migrants) has caused more disputes over the control of this issue because it is one that generates resources. As the flow decreases, they are disputing this more,” he described.
Following the announcement of the asylum restrictions, the average daily number of migrant arrests in the El Paso, Texas sector decreased by 36% per month to 484, according to Border Patrol figures.
Just last Friday, a police operation found six dead and two wounded by gunshots in a community near the Chihuahua-Juarez highway, where some were Central Americans.
This is the third massacre related to human trafficking in the last three months in the city of Chihuahua.
And over the weekend, the National Migration Institute (INM) and the Federal Preventive Police detained 65 migrants crammed into a dump truck in temperatures of more than 109° F as it tried to pass an Army road checkpoint.
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