Thousands of Venezuelan migrants have blocked the border between Mexico and the United States in recent days, mainly in Juárez-El Paso, where more than 600 have crossed the Rio Bravo daily in the past week, according to the US Customs and Border Agency.
The mass crossing of people began on Sept. 10, when the extension of the United States’ Temporary Protection Statute (TPS) for migrants from Venezuela, which protects them from deportation and allows them to obtain work permits.
Migrants crossing from Ciudad Juárez to El Paso, Texas, await help from U.S. customs and border guards, who have set up a makeshift processing center next to the Santa Fe International Bridge.
With this massive influx of people, local associations fear a new humanitarian crisis in Ciudad Juárez.
“I come with 26 members of my family, we are divided, some are already arriving in Ciudad Juárez. We are looking for better economic and health opportunities. For me, Venezuela is the most beautiful country, but the economic situation we have with the president [Nicolás Maduro] it is difficult”Norma Elizaria told EFE news agency.
Given the overcrowding of the shelters, some people in the Pasta region have set up tents and portable toilets outside the bus station.
Dozens of undocumented migrants sleep in a makeshift camp set up by the authorities along the El Paso highway.
Food is also a challenge for migrants, as US authorities only provide them with water, with people traveling to Ciudad Juarez to buy food and returning to El Paso.
The situation at the border has worsened since the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last week that it would extend the validity of TPS permits for Venezuelans.
Andy Rojas left Venezuela 30 days ago and is now waiting for an opportunity after crossing into Mexico, where he says he has faced ill-treatment by immigration authorities.
“I’m coming with a colleague and I want to be able to work in the United States. A lot of people were extorted in Mexico,” he said.
Fernando García, director and founder of the Border Network for Human Rights, warned that “it is clear” that there is a “crisis” because there is no “infrastructure to receive migrants”, but asked not to see this as a problem of uncertainty. .
“El Paso is one of the safest cities in the United States. The problem is that when we say migration is a matter of public safety, we immediately classify them as criminals who come to do harm,” Garcia told EFE.
However, Father Javier Calvillo, director of the Casa del Migrante in Ciudad Juárez, explained that “Venezuelans have immigration clearance to enter Mexico freely for seven or even ten days.”
“So far in the shelter we don’t have people from that country, they have other nationalities, including Mexicans, but also Hondurans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans,” he said.
The current situation is a reflection of the record flow of migration to the United States that the region is experiencing.
Source: DN
