Cancún Officials: No Migrant Child Can Be Denied Education

Cancún, Quintana Roo — The director of Human Rights and Attention to Priority Groups for Benito Juárez, Edgar Mora, stated that no migrant child in Cancún can be denied the right to education, regardless of their immigration status or nationality.

Mora explained that authorities are working in coordination with the Education Secretariat, civil organizations, and the Guatemalan Consulate to provide guidance to foreign families — primarily Guatemalan — who live in the municipality and are unaware of the procedures to enroll their children in the school system.

Many migrant families face problems due to lack of information or fear of approaching authorities, which in some cases has led to abuses by private schools. Mora revealed that officials detected cases where children attended elementary school at private institutions that later issued fake certificates.

He reiterated that the Mexican Constitution guarantees access to public education for all minors, regardless of whether they have regularized immigration documents. “We cannot deny education to a girl or a boy,” Mora emphasized.

The municipal government aims to strengthen the dissemination of these rights to prevent more migrant families from falling victim to fraud and to ensure minors can also access health services and other support programs while regularizing their stay in the country.