Many Central American immigrants lined up at a refugee support office in southern Mexico said they could abandon their plans to reach the United States, staying in Mexico if US President Donald Trump increases repression against immigration.
Mexico is stepping up security on its southern border with Guatemala as part of an agreement with Washington after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican products had the Andres Manuel López Obrador government failed to contain the influx of immigrants into the United States.
Mexico has also agreed to extend a program begun in January that requires immigrants to wait in Mexico for asylum applications in the United States.
On Thursday, the United States began to increase the rate of return of asylum seekers to Mexico.
Furthermore, if Mexico does not contain immigration flows by mid-July, it should become a "safe third country," where asylum seekers would have to seek refuge instead of going to the United States.
In the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, an overcrowded refugee aid office called Comar in the town of Tapachula has seen an increase in asylum applications.
This is one of three such offices in the country. People waiting in line outside Comar said they would risk staying in Mexico if the only alternative was to return to a violence-ridden Central America.
Thousands of families fled poverty and uncontrolled crime in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala in the past year, crossing Mexico into the United States.
"If we do not have another option, yes, we could stay in Mexico, because really for Honduras we can not go back," said Dagoberto, 34, waiting in line, next to his companion, Jose.
Dagoberto said he was threatened in Honduras after a gang took over the business in which he worked. He went to Comar to apply for a humanitarian visa to allow him to reach the United States.
Dagoberto and José, who are expected to marry on arrival in the United States, did not want to reveal their surnames, claiming that the criminal group that made them flee Honduras is international.
Nidia Martinez and her three children slept three nights on the sidewalk in front of Comar's office, where she seeks permission to travel to the US border.
"I want to get to the United States, and if I can not, then Mexico is a good place to live," she said, adding that she had a greater sense of security since arriving in Tapachula.
"In Honduras you can not live because you are robbed, raped or killed," said Martinez, 28, who was relieved that she and her children have not yet been beaten in the Mexican city bordering Guatemala.
Her security, however, stemmed from sleeping in front of the refugee office. Migrants in other parts of the city and throughout Mexico are often victims of extortion, kidnapping and corrupt government officials.
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