The number of cases has risen sharply in recent weeks
Nearly 3,300 migrants stranded in Mexico since January as a result of a U.S. border policy have been abducted, raped, trafficked or attacked, according to a report released today by a human rights group.
The report, compiled by New York-based Human Rights First , lists cases of immigrants and asylum seekers trapped in Mexico since US President Joe Biden took office on January 20.
The number of incidents has risen sharply in recent weeks from about 500 such incidents recorded in April to 3,300 by mid-June .
Democrat Biden has moved to reverse many of the anti-immigration policies of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
However, the Biden government has maintained the previous government’s deportation policy . During Biden’s five-month presidency, more than 400,000 immigrants detained at or near the border have been deported, including many families from Central American countries and asylum seekers have been sent back to Mexico.
The Biden government has publicly insisted that the decree remains necessary to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, although it has not provided scientific evidence to support this reasoning and many public health experts oppose this argument.
Human Rights First compiled the report, which included incidents it collected from media reports, interviews with immigrants seeking asylum in the United States, and information from lawyers and human rights organizations.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
The White House and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. More than 2,700 of the nearly 3,300 cases were recorded through an ongoing investigation by Al Otro Lado, a San Diego-based legal service provided by Human Rights First, the organization said.
The latter did not provide detailed details of the alleged crimes. Drug cartels, street gangs and human trafficking networks are common in some parts of northern Mexico near the US border.
Some of the alleged victims have been deported and others have been trapped in Mexico under the border policy, a Human Rights First spokesman said.
