SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The head of the Migrant Pro Defense Council in Baja California, José Moreno, is accusing Tijuana Police officers of extorting money from migrants as they get deported from the U.S.
Moreno told reporters Tuesday afternoon, his group is preparing to file a formal complaint with Tijuana Mayor Ismael Burgueño Ruiz in regard to officer “squeezing” money from migrants.
“Tijuana Municipal Police is having a field day,” Moreno said. “This is to notify local authorities about how extortions are on the rise. … We need to get rid of these practices especially with the constant flow of people being repatriated.”
Moreno says migrants are being approached outside the Salvation Army shelter as well as other points where they seek help.
“They are shaken down for money, but migrants don’t dare file a complaint because the system doesn’t allow it, because from one day to the next, they may not be here.”
According to Moreno, other migrants are being stopped after leaving the federal shelter, which provides them with a stipend and other resources.
“Most of the deported migrants are men who don’t want to stay in the shelter very long because they lack trust in the government and they’d rather seek shelter on their own often from private groups, but this is when they fall prey to police shakedowns.”
Last week, Mexican authorities said they had dismantled 11 gangs that were extorting businesses throughout the Tijuana region. At a news conference Thursday morning in Tijuana, police told reporters they had made a total of 37 arrests during a sting operation throughout Tijuana, Ensenada and Rosarito.
Tijuana’s Secretary of Public Security, Laureano Carrillo Rodríguez, said the suspects were all threatening business owners with violence and vandalism if they did not pay a monthly fee.
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