Migrants set fire in midnight camp raid in northern Mexico

19/1/2025 6:23

Migrants trying to avoid arrest set fire to blankets and mattresses at a camp in the northern Mexican city of Chihuahua during a raid by government forces to clear the site in the early hours of Saturday.



The enforcement action near the U.S. border come just ahead of the inauguration on Monday of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has accused Mexico's government of not doing enough to curb migration to the U.S. and threatened sweeping tariffs.



About 250 Mexican officials, including National Guard military police in anti-riot gear, surrounded the encampment at around midnight, according to a Reuters witness.



Migrants began setting fire to mattresses and blankets in protest, the witness said, and tried to slip out of the site carrying babies and belongings.