Cold weather drives migrants camped at border bridge into shelter
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Nov. 13
The arrival of winter weather in the border city of Juarez, Mexico, has
forced hundreds of migrants awaiting entry to the United States to seek
shelter away from the international bridge, where many have been camped
for days.
"The city authorities managed to convince the refugees to go to the Casa
del Migrante so nobody froze to death last night," Jonathan Gonzalez, a
member of Grupo Beta, told UPI on Tuesday. Grupo Beta is the branch of
the Mexican immigration service that provides migrants with humanitarian
assistance.
Before the temperature dropped on Friday, hundreds of migrants -- mostly
Central Americans, Cubans and Venezuelans -- were camped out on the
international bridge, awaiting entry to the United States to petition
for political asylum.
"I spent six nights on the bridge before I went to a hotel," said Yerwin
Saavedra, a 23-year-old former Venezuelan soldier fleeing repression.
"Then we were given a number, which is our place in the line. I'm number
269. They write the number on our arms, but you can't see mine anymore
because I washed. I know they have my name, though."
Saavedra is trying to get to Dallas to live with his uncle who has political asylum.
The Casa del Migrante in Ciudad Juárez sheltered 400 migrants awaiting
entry to the United States on Saturday, said its social worker, Ivonne
López de Lara.
"We do not want anybody sleeping on the bridge in this cold," López
said. "They come to Juárez/El Paso because they heard from other
migrants there was nobody here at the bridge," she said.
Migrants from Honduras agreed that Ciudad Juárez is "calmer." Cristian
Reynaldo, 22, from Olancho, Honduras, said he arrived a week ago by
train from Tabasco in southern Mexico. "It's not as dangerous here as
Tamaulipas," he said. Reynaldo is headed to Tennessee, where his
brother-in-law lives.
"I left Honduras because it is very dangerous. The gangs force you to sell drugs or to extort people," he said.
Waiting their turn
On Monday morning, the Casa housed 290 migrants and by the afternoon the
number had dropped to 176. By Monday afternoon, the number shot up
again to more than 200 as more migrants arrived from other parts of
Mexico, López told UPI. The Casa del Migrante can house up to 1,500
people.
"The number is going down because Customs and Border Protection takes
about 25 refugees at a time about three times a day," López said, "and
city authorities and Mexican immigration provide the transportation to
the bridge in a bus. But we don't know when CBP will take the refugees.
The list is managed by Grupo Beta and they coordinate with the CBP."
People from El Paso and Juárez have been donating men's underwear,
scarves, gloves, hats and blankets for the migrants. On Monday
afternoon, two staffers from Texas state Sen. José RodrÃguez's office
brought a truck laden with a dozen bags of blankets, scarves, gloves and
shoes. A Mexican Red Cross representative met them to help offload the
items.
The Casa del Migrante is six miles from the downtown bridge, and there
is no public transportation, with taxis costing $25 from downtown one
way. While migrants shelter at the Casa they have access to medical care
and psychological assistance, exercise equipment, and they eat three
meals a day. Staff do not let migrants enter and exit, to protect them
from robbery and assault. Many migrants told UPI they do not mind not
remaining inside the Casa's compound because they know Juárez is not a
safe city.
"I was assaulted and robbed on the way here," Cosme Calix Bueso said.
The 53-year-old father of eight is a coffee grower from Comayuga,
Honduras. He has no work in Honduras, the price of coffee being too low
to support his family. He is trying to get to Virginia. Before Calix
Bueso arrived in Ciudad Juárez a week ago, he was working as a nut
picker and sheller in Constitución, Chihuahua.
"They robbed me of everything I earned. The only thing I have left of
the work is the stains the nuts left on my hands. I just want to work,"
he said. "But I've been treated very well here at the Casa del
Migrante." .
Bused to the border
On Tuesday morning, 25 Hondurans and Cubans wrapped in blankets and
scarves boarded a bus from the the shelter to the downtown bridge
linking Ciudad Juárez to El Paso, Texas. The group were numbered between
236 and 260. Three children were in the group. Nemiah Adonai RodrÃguez
of Honduras was carrying the youngest refugee, his daughter, Karen
Denis, 18 months old.
Two Grupo Beta agents led the migrants in single file up the bridge's
pedestrian sidewalk to the waiting U.S. CBP agents. Every person who
wants to make their way to the immigration building now has to show
valid documents even before they set foot on U.S. soil. Some Mexicans on
their way to the United States wished the refugees good luck while
others just stared. One young woman who wanted to push past the migrants
was asked to wait by CBP officers, provoking her visible annoyance.
The 25 migrants stood at the top of the bridge at the international line
marker while two CBP officers radioed to their superior for
authorization to let them enter. After about 10 minutes, the CBP
officers motioned for the migrants to enter the United States so they
could begin their asylum process.
"They have been accepting more people now that they aren't camped out on
the bridge," said one Grupo Beta agent, who declined to give his name.
Meanwhile, back at the Casa del Migrante, other migrants with numbers
have to sit out the wait, uncertain about when they will enter the
United States.
"It's not yet my turn," Saavedra said. "But it will be soon. I think I'll be in the group admitted this afternoon."
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