Getting Interrogated And My Phone Taken While Interviewing Migrants In Mexico

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JUCHITÁN DE ZARAGOZA, Oaxaca — I have talked with hundreds of migrants over the course of the Biden-Harris border crisis these past few years. What made this incident different was the location, it was not within the U.S. nor in northern Mexico, it was much closer to Mexico’s southern border.

I decided to go to Oaxaca for The Blaze because while a lot of focus within American media still remains on places like Eagle Pass, Texas, there are very few, if any, U.S. reporters in the southern Mexico. Despite Donald Trump winning the election, caravans have left Tapachula, Chiapas. What has usually played out is the Mexican government break ups the caravans by putting the tired migrants on buses, sometimes that happens in Chiapas and other times it happens in Oaxaca.

To get to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which is where the migrants are in Oaxaca, from the capital, it’s a five-hour drive up and over mountains. It took a lot of effort to get to this part of Mexico and so when we found a migrant camp in Juchitán de Zaragoza, we went in without hesitation.

The camp was inside an open-air bus station. The tents were in a courtyard towards the back. It was in the middle of the day and there were not many migrants. We approached a small group, explained why we were there, and asked if we could film interviews. They said we could film but not show their faces, which we agreed.

We talked with this group for over seven minutes. It was going well and we were almost done when two men on a small motorcycle drove into the courtyard. One of the men jumped off and demanded me to stop filming. I turned off my phone so it was locked, but the man snatched it from my hand. But, in almost comedic fashion, I grabbed my phone back just as quickly. The man, short and with scars on his face, continued to ask why we were there and to told me to delete my footage. He further told us not to leave, my guess is because he had other people on the way.

We asked him what the problem was because we had permission to talk with the migrants. He appeared unarmed and if he had more people coming to keep us there, we weren’t going to give him that opportunity.

We told him we were reporters from the United States.

“Do you have an ID to prove it?” he asked.

I did, but I forgot to take it out of the car.

We asked why he was acting so hostile when there were no issues.

Finally, he told us. He said he was being confrontational because other (bad) people have been coming to the migrants camps to take the women and children away. I was stunned. My first thought was this man was a gang member who didn’t want outsiders on “his” turf. It turns out, he was someone doing a small part to protect the people in the camp.

After a few more assurances that we had no intention of doing such a horrific thing, and to report on such stories was a reason why were there, he became friendly and shook our hands. The migrants we were talking to implored us to stay a little longer to look at the conditions in the camp and to talk to other people in the group.

We stayed for one more interviewed but decided it was best to leave while we still had a chance.

It was a very intense moment to say the least. Reporting on this issue has resulted in being in precarious situations before but this time was much different. We were far away from the hotel and even further away from the United States. While Oaxaca is a generally safe place to visit compared to other parts of the country, we were much closer to the state of Chiapas. Chiapas has been plagued with cartel violence in recent years, partly to have control over the huge number of migrants passing through. The people were were talking had previously told us they had been kidnapped near Tapachula.

Hearing the man’s concerns was another reminder of the brutal reality that is illegal immigration. The first victims are the migrants themselves, which is why it is horrible they have been incentivized by the Biden-Harris administration to enter the United States in that way. It was also a reminder how quickly things can go south almost out of nowhere.

The rest of the trip went without any major issues, thankfully. Here is a short teaser of the interviews we conducted.

My written report for The Blaze can be found here and the full video can be viewed here.