Mexico Government Appoints Czar To Manage Central American Migrants Crisis

Scenes From The Mexico-Guatemala Border

Mexico's border with Guatemala is also teeming with migrants crossing illegally, but the level of violence there is much lower than in the north.

In response to the mounting pressure from the United States government, the Mexican government has appointed a czar to take charge of the largely unimpeded migration from Central America headed north.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that Mexico’s Interior Minister Miguel Angel Orosio Chong said the new system would guarantee the safety of migrants as well as their eventual repatriation.

He appointed Humberto Mayans, a senator from his Institutional Revolutionary Party, as head of the agency that would work independently from the Interior Ministry.

Osorio called on the mayors and governors along the migration route to cooperate with federal authorities to stem the flow of migrants going through.

Migrants traveling North board the notorious “La Bestia,” or “the Beast,” freight trains that traverse the country with many dying every year after falling from the precarious perch or being tossed off by marauding gangs who attempt to extort or rape them.

U.S. authorities are urging Mexico, Honduras and other Central American countries to do their part in stopping the increased flow of young migrants traveling unaccompanied and without documents toward the U.S.-Mexico border.

Osorio’s announcement was bereft of concrete details and fell short of what was expected, the LA Times reported. He did not take questions from reporters.

In the past, Mexico has largely turned a blind eye to the thousands of Central American migrants who have crossed the country heading toward the U.S. border.

Mexico’s announcement Tuesday came a day after American authorities began deporting Honduran mothers with children. Deportation flights will continue, the Obama administration said.