Mexican officials help illegal immigrants cross into US: report

As the crisis at the border continues to worsen, a number of illegal immigrants have claimed that Mexican officials are actively assisting those seeking to illegally cross over into the United States.

While the US neighbor has sent a number of migrants back to its own southern border, some say authorities there have been releasing large numbers of them back into the interior, many of whom then make their way back up north.

Speaking with reporters from the Daily Mail, migrants awaiting their opportunity to cross from Allende, Mexico to Eagle Pass, Texas explained that rather than work to secure their border and prevent illegal immigrants from south and central America from venturing to the US, Mexican officials have helped ensure those who want to make the trek are given the chance over and over again.

One couple from Venezuela, for example, said that they had been stopped by authorities just miles from the US-Mexico border, and to their surprise were not deported back to their home country. Instead, they were returned to the Mexico-Guatemala border and released following a one-week stint in jail. 

They recalled that some of the other people at the facility had been detained for months, but that the jail's entire population was released at the same time, and proceeded to journey north.

"I feel like the Mexicans do it so they can tell the US that they're doing something to stop migrants," they said, adding, "Why wouldn't they just deport us from Mexico if they're really serious about stopping us from reaching the US?"

Others who made the trek through Mexico to the US border told the Daily Mail that they were stopped multiple times by authorities, but rather than apprehend them, they simply paid a bribe and were allowed to keep going.

"They only care about money, not about immigration," one Venezuelan man argued.

According to the outlet, once migrants arrive at the US border, many are instructed by authorities where to find a shallow section of the Rio Grande to cross.