Mexican authorities clear one of Mexico City’s largest downtown migrant tent encampments

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican federal immigration authorities say they have cleared one of Mexico City’s largest downtown tent encampments of migrants. The National Immigration Institute said Thursday the migrants had been forced to pay bribes of between $12 and $35 for the right to pitch a tent in the tightly-packed space. Residents of the upscale but bohemian Juarez neighborhood, near the city’s center, had long complained that the largely paved pedestrian zone had been taken over for years. They claimed it posed increased risks of crime, health hazards and deprived them of one of their few recreational areas. Most of the 432 migrants simply agreed to leave during the night-time raid.