Mexico tries to ease asylum backlog in face of frustrations

Mexican officials have opened a mammoth reception center for migrants near the Guatemala border trying to ease a backlog in Mexico’s asylum system and the resulting frustrations that drove thousands of applicants to head toward the U.S. border

TAPACHULA, Mexico -- Trying to ease a backlog in Mexico’s asylum system and the resulting frustrations that drove thousands of applicants to head toward the U.S., Mexican officials opened a mammoth reception center outside a soccer stadium near the Guatemala border Tuesday.

The Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance, with the help of the National Guard and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, targeted those who had already made initial applications for protected status in Mexico but had waited months for an initial interview.

The site outside Tapachula’s Olympic Stadium could handle as many as 2,000 people daily, said Alma Delia Cruz Márquez, the commission’s local delegate.

Previously, huge crowds had packed the streets around the commission’s downtown offices in Tapachula jostling for position.