A Cuban citizen was detained on the night of May 4 during an immigration raid in a building in the San Rafael neighborhood, in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, as part of a wave of operations that has intensified in the Mexican capital over the past week.
According to the independent media Conexión Migrante, her husband, Alexis, a Mexican citizen, was alerted by neighbors and went to the location, where he found members of the Navy Secretariat, traffic officers, auxiliary police, and an agent from the National Institute of Migration (INM).
A total of 11 migrants were arrested in that operation.
According to Alexis's testimony, the officers refused to identify themselves and did not present any official order authorizing the detentions.
In a video documented by Conexión Migrante, the young man is heard addressing the officers: "Can you show it to me, please? Yes, you can show it to me, in fact, because it pertains to my wife. My wife has the right to citizenship. They haven't shown it to me, can you please show it to me, along with your authorization number? And badge."
After hours of unanswered calls to the immigration offices, Alexis learned that his wife had been moved to the Immigration Station "Las Agujas" in the Iztapalapa municipality.
She was finally released, but relocated to the state of Veracruz, far from her husband and without clear information regarding the reasons for her detention.
This case is not isolated. Operations have also been reported outside the Antara shopping center in the Miguel Hidalgo borough, as well as in La Merced, Tepito, Guerrero, Polanco, Patriotismo, and Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl.
On April 30th, user Luis Valenzuela reported on X the arrests in front of Antara: "These fascists from the National Institute of Migration began conducting a raid against migrants in front of me. They are a disgrace to Mexico."
On May 5, at least 15 agents from the INM entered a building in the Guerrero neighborhood without a court order to carry out more arrests, as documented by the Jesuit Network with Migrants Mexico in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The organization states that the operations involve the INM, the Army, the Navy, the National Guard, and the Secretariat of Citizen Security of Mexico City, "which demonstrates a deeply militarized immigration control scheme."
The Jesuit Network also documented at least two cases of home invasions, including that of Venezuelan youths in the Doctores neighborhood, who were first transferred to Las Agujas and then to the "Siglo XXI" migration station in Tapachula.
Civil organizations link these operations to a policy of "order and cleanliness" in public spaces in preparation for the 2026 World Cup, and they warn that "an international event cannot be used as a pretext to legitimize practices of harassment, criminalization, and expulsion of migrants."
The situation is particularly harsh for Cubans. Thousands of compatriots remain stranded in Tapachula, while between 1,200 and 1,500 marched in a caravan toward Mexico City in search of better conditions.
Since February 2026, the Trump administration has deported approximately 6,000 Cubans to Mexico, with two or three weekly flights arriving in Chiapas and Tabasco, according to data presented to a U.S. federal court. Meanwhile, ICE has increased its detentions of Cubans by 463% between late 2024 and January 2026.
The paradox did not go unnoticed on social media, where the phrase "They complain about ICE but are the same" went viral as a summary of the outrage against a Mexico that criticizes American raids while replicating similar practices in its own territory.
The Jesuit Network with Migrants concludes that “the irregularity that the State uses as justification to detain these individuals is an irregularity that the State itself has produced and perpetuates”, referring to the collapse of the international protection system, which has left tens of thousands of migrants stranded in waits of over 10 months, unable to even formally submit their asylum applications.
Filed under: