Mexican border agents rescue 36 migrants

Mexican immigration agents on Sunday rescued 36 undocumented migrants who were held in the town of San Juan Chamula, in southern Chiapas state, for allegedly damaging some crops, the National Immigration Institute (INM) said. An INM press release said the rescued migrants included four Indians, six Bangladeshis, seven Guatemalans, 18 Salvadorans, including five minors, and another minor from Honduras. According to investigations, the truck the migrants were riding in, which had plates from Mexico's southern state of Guerrero, drove over a patch of cultivated land, destroying the crops and leading the authorities of the communal farm to detain them for the damage. The truck's unidentified driver and his companion both fled the scene and the 36 migrants, meanwhile, were taken to a nearby school. Later, the INM office in the nearby city of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, was notified of the incident, and INM personnel were sent to negotiate the group's release with the local indigenous community of Chamula. Community members agreed to free the detainees in exchange for getting the truck removed from their property. The migrants were taken to the INM office in San Cristobal for a standard medical checkup, the INM said.