Immigration from Central America to Mexico Plummets, Mexican Official Says

2010: Central American migrants walk along the train tracks as they make their way north on the outskirts of Mexico City. (AP)

Border crossing between Central America and Mexico has significantly dropped, a Mexican official says.

Commissioner Salvador Beltrán del Rio says the number of Central Americans crossing into Mexico without documents has dropped from 433,000 in 2005 to 140,000 in 2010. He says the downward trend has continued in the first eight months of this year.

Beltrán said in a video conference Monday that Central Americans crossing Mexico face increased risks of extortion, kidnapping and violence because organized crime has moved into migrant trafficking.

In one of the worst attacks, 72 migrants were slaughtered in the border state of Tamaulipas in August 2010. Most were Central Americans.

In April Mexico opened up the Special Committee on Migration to address the human rights of immigrants.

The Unified Strategy for Preventing and Combating was also launched by Mexico in the hopes of diminishing the number of crimes committed against immigrants by crime organizations.

According to a report from the National Human Rights Commission, or CNDH, close to 11,333 migrants from Central America were kidnapped in Mexico between the months of April and September.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.