President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador swept into office in 2018 after campaigning against corruption, promising to calm the country and pledging to promote morals and values, including the enactment of a "moral constitution."

Migrant shelters in Mexico, which have long provided a safe place amidst a dangerous and difficult journey, now face increased crackdowns and harassment from tough new policy turns.

Motives for the crime are unknown, and the assailants remain at large.

The Mexican bishops' conference issued a plea for peace and Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes asked priests to celebrate Masses "for all the victims of violence in the country" after a pair of kidnappings and killings in the national capital provoked outrage and worsened perceptions of insecurity.

“Deploying 6,000 National Guard troops on the southern border is not a root solution that addresses the true causes of the migration phenomenon,” Mexico's bishops wrote. “The fight against poverty and inequality in Mexico and Central America seems to be replaced by fear of the other, our brother.”

According to the federal government, at least 8,493 people were killed during the first three months of this year. If this trend continues, the year will end with approximately 35,000 murders in Mexico—more than the already record-breaking 34,202 homicide victims of last year.