The massive number of migrants heading north, most toward the U.S. border, is now affecting international trade, as a Mexican railway operator was forced to temporarily suspend operations over the hitchhikers.
On Tuesday, Ferromex halted 60 trains carrying cargo due to recent spate of injuries and deaths occurring from migrants catching rides.
“Despite the grave danger,” some hitchhikers even jumped aboard moving freight cars, the company said.
“There has been a significant increase in the number of migrants in recent days,” Ferromex said in the statement, according to AP, noting that the temporary suspension of operations was being done “to protect the physical safety of the migrants.”
On Wednesday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called the company's decision "strange" and "unusual."
According to Ferromex, the worst problems appeared to be further north.
The company said there were about 1,500 people gathered at a rail yard in the city of Torreon, in the northern border state of Coahuila. The company also reported about 800 migrants waiting at the freight yards in Irapuato, in the north-central state of Guanajuato.
About 1,000 people were reported to be riding freight cars on the train line that connects the city of Chihuahua and the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.
Ferromex is Mexico’s largest concessionary rail operator and the impact of the train stoppage will be “very important,” said Ana Bertha Gutiérrez, the international trade coordinator for the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness.
She noted the measure could hit industrial states like Nuevo Leon, Baja California and Chihuahua hard, given their links to the U.S. market. (AP)
According to estimates from the company, the decision to halt the 60 trains translated into a daily loss of about $2.34 million.
On Wednesday, some operations had been restarted for routes where there was no "heightened risk," Reuters reported, but company executives are set to meet on Friday with members of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and members of the Mexican government to discuss next steps.