Migrants stage mass escape from Mexican facility

It was the largest escape in recent history, as 1,300, mostly Cuban, detainees escaped from a detention facility in Tapachula, Mexico. The escape happened Thursday, April 25, 2019. Families of the detainees have said that their family members inside are reporting that there is insufficient food, poor living conditions, overcrowding, and no medical supplies. Officials reported that the guards were not armed and “there was no confrontation.” Since the escape, approximately 700 of the detainees have returned, leaving about 600 still unaccounted for. Usmoni Valezquez Vallejo, a family member of two of the detainees, reported to the news, “My wife and child have been in there for 27 days in bad conditions.”

How embarrassing is this for this detention facility? The escape happened on the same day that Mexico’s human rights official toured the facility. I would hope after the visit and the escape happening on the same day that living conditions would improve. However, thinking about it, if I were there for 27 days with a child and conditions were that bad, I think I would have tried to escape before now. Another thing, if several people are complaining about the same issues, why has it not been looked into already? Which government is ultimately responsible for the detention facility? These people want to come to the United States for better living, but get held up at the border, put in a detention facility like they are some kind of criminal, and treated poorly, which is exactly what they are trying to get away from in the first place. Somehow, that just does not make any sense to me. Here is one idea, instead of saying Mexicans and other Latinos are outsiders, how about we treat them like neighbors, which is what they really are. They, just like everyone in the United States, just want a better life and future for their families. Maybe then, Latin American relations with other countries, to include the U.S., would be a little better.