A group of about 40 Cuban migrants staged a riot this Sunday at the Siglo XXI Migration Station in Tapachula, Chiapas, after learning that they would be deported, according to the agency EFE.
According to the report, the migrants—who were relocated from central Mexico after being unable to prove their legal status in the country—set fire to several mattresses inside the facilities, prompting a large security operation.
Federal forces established a perimeter around the immigration facility while agents entered the building to take control of the situation. State and local police also joined the operation.
The National Migration Institute (INM) later reported that the incident was brought under control without any fatalities or serious injuries.
The institution specified that two individuals were handed over to the authorities for their alleged involvement in attempting to start the fire, while the rest of the migrants remain under protection at the station.
As of the time this information was last updated, federal authorities had not reported whether the deportation process for the involved Cubans would continue or if their immigration status would be reviewed following the incident.
The riot occurs against a backdrop of increasing pressure at Mexico's southern border, where thousands of migrants remain awaiting a resolution regarding their cases.
From outside the station, Luis Rey García, director of the Center for Human Dignification, demanded transparency regarding what happened inside the detention center.
"We ask the public to open the doors of the immigration station. Whatever it may be, we need to know, as citizens of Tapachula, what is happening inside this immigration prison," he declared.
The activist also reported that migrants remain isolated and stated that some are pressured into hiring private attorneys. According to his estimates, about 65,000 migrants continue to be stranded at the southern Mexican border.
The incident occurs in a particularly complex context for Cubans deported from the United States. A report from Human Rights Watch indicates that, since January 2025, the administration of Donald Trump has deported more than 4,300 Cuban citizens to Mexico, the largest group among nearly 13,000 nationals from third countries sent to Mexican territory.
Many of them remain in a migratory limbo: they cannot return to Cuba, lack authorization to enter the United States, and are facing asylum processes in Mexico that can extend for over a year.
Tensions in Tapachula have been rising throughout 2026. In April, Cuban migrants reported assaults by municipal officials in Miguel Hidalgo Park. A month later, between 1,200 and 1,500 Cubans embarked on a caravan to Mexico City to demand a response to their immigration situation. In July, civil organizations also warned that thousands of migrants were surviving thanks to informal support networks due to the lack of institutional solutions.
The episode also brings back memories of the fire that occurred on March 27, 2023, at the immigration station in Ciudad Juárez, where 40 migrants died and another 27 were injured, marking one of the greatest tragedies recorded in a migration detention center in Mexico. This case led to a legal proceeding against the then-commissioner of the National Institute of Migration, Francisco Garduño.
Related videos:
Filed under: