The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
October 2, 2023

Migrants Killed Near U.S. Border; Traffic Deaths Expose Dangers for Migrants Traveling Through Mexico
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Mexico, two Mexican migrants were killed Friday in a shooting near
the border city of Tecate in Baja California state. Three others were
wounded. The group of 14 migrants were crossing the Cuchuma Hill in the
middle of the desert, a site that's sacred to local Indigenous
communities and a common route used by drug traffickers and human
smugglers. Mexican officials said the cause of the shooting is not
known. Harsh border policies have forced migrants heading to the U.S.
border to rely on smugglers and crossing through remote and dangerous
areas, where they're vulnerable to extortion and violence from Mexican
law enforcement and drug groups.

In related news, at least 10 Cuban migrants were killed and over a dozen
others injured Sunday after the freight truck they were riding in
crashed on a highway in the state of Chiapas, near the border with
Guatemala. Another migrant from Ecuador also died in a crash in the city
of Mexicali, across the border from Calexico, California, after being
taken into custody by Mexican immigration officials, whose van hit a bus
and then a utility pole. At least 10 other migrants from Guatemala and
Colombia were also wounded in Saturday's accident.


.