Could this really be?   Mexico constantly bemoans the supposed bad treatment of Mexicans in the United States.  But look how these Cubans are being treated!

From the Miami Herald:

A group of Cuban migrants detained in the southern Mexico city of Tapachula have accused authorities of beating and mistreating them after they staged a hunger strike — some by sewing their lips together — to demand their release.

Cuban migrants stranded in Mexico claim abuse by authorities following protest  Nora Gamez Torres,  Miami Herald, March 15^th, 2017

Details:

The Quadratín news agency reported that the Cubans filed a formal complaint against officials of the [Mexican] state of Chiapas' Public Security Department and the National Migration Institute following the alleged incidents last week at the Siglo XXI immigrant detention center. According to several reports, the Cubans refused to return to their cells during a hunger strike to demand their release. They also called for an end to their harassment and the extortions of their relatives. Mexican journalists reported that some of the Cubans sewed their lips together as part of the protest, which was took place on Friday[March 10^th]. In a separate incident last month, Mexican press reported that some of the Cubans at the detention center were beaten when they shouted “freedom” and “free Cuba.”

This doesn’t sound good.

But why are these Cubans stranded in Mexico? Well, the explanation for that is not the work of President Trump, but the work of President Obama, in the waning days of his term.

Many Cuban migrants who were heading to the United States were stranded in Mexico when the Obama administration ended the “wet foot, dry foot policy” on Jan. 12. Until then, Mexican officials usually allowed Cuban migrants who entered through the southern border with Guatemala to continue on their way to the border with the United States.  That is no longer the case: In January, alone, the Mexican government deported at least 91 of the Cubans held at the Tapachula center. It is not known how many are currently held there.

So you see how it works.  The Mexican government didn’t care too much about Cubans passing through Mexico, as long as they passed through and left Mexico, entering the United States.  If they want to stay, that’s a different matter.

Cuba native Olga Lidia González, 52, who lives in Texas, said relatives held at the Siglo XXI center told her by telephone after the incidents Friday that “a young man had sewn his lips, and there was violence and people wounded.”  González's daughter and son-in-law — Dayana Suárez, 27, and Yamir Ponce, 29, – have been held at the center since Dec. 29. She said the couple and the daughter's father Giraldo Villacampa, 53, obtained refugee status Friday through the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees but all three were told they would remain in detention until they received their residency documents for Mexico.

That’s one way to handle refugee applicants.   Anyway, there is also extortion going on.

González said she has received dozens of phone calls from people in Mexico who identify themselves as lawyers at the Siglo XXI center and demand money for the release of her relatives.

But don’t worry, the Mexican Human Rights Commission is right on top of this.

A lawyer for the National Commission on Human Rights in Chiapas confirmed that the Cuban migrants filed a formal complaint on Monday. The lawyer, who declined to give his name, said the commission can take two to three months to investigate complaints and issue its findings.