 Traditionally, Mexico built a reputation as one of the classic asylum countries, with a varying attitude toward refugees from Spain and other European countries before and during World War II, from Latin America's Southern Cone in the 1970s, and from Central America since the beginning of the 1980s.However, in recent years refugees who solicit asylum are usually treated as if they were just immigrants, with exhaustive administrative processes.The southern border of Mexico has experienced a significant increase in legal and illegal flows over the past decade, in particular for migrants seeking to transit Mexico to reach the U.S. José Luis Soberanes, president of the National Human Rights Commission, condemned the repressing policy implemented by the Mexican government against illegal immigrants who cross the country's southern border.