Migrants passing through Mexico desperately need mental health care, but the Mexican government has offered little support. Shelters and NGOs in Tapachula are stepping in to provide essential psych services, but experts and frontline workers say it still isn’t enough.
Thousands of migrants are trapped in Tapachula, just north of Mexico’s border with Guatemala, where they face strict limitations on their movements, few job prospects, poor living conditions and long waits for immigration hearings. Some have labeled Tapachula an “open-air prison,” others call it the southern extension of the U.S. border.