El Paso, Texas.
The true drama of the American dream comes on the thin line between bewilderment and hope.
There is no better definition of the unprecedented events that have been told, experienced and photographed every day and every night since the beginning of 2021, at various points along the 3,200-kilometer boundary between Mexico and the United States.
The protagonists of these stories have many things in common: the vast majority are Hondurans, they decided to leave what little they had and leave as a family with children, even newborns. They travel exposed to a wide variety of situations such as crime, kidnappings, bad weather, accidents, lack of money and repression for invading a country which is not yours.
LEA: Neither night nor checkpoints stop Honduran migrants
Encouraged by the desire to improve themselves and by plagues such as the lack of employment or the loss of their belongings after the tropical storms that raged in November 2020, and even by the vague idea that the caravans are painting, that they will be able to cross Guatemala and Mexico dozens of them have started the winding journey without any problems.
The numbers are hard and cold but terrifying because they are huge.
A few weeks ago, the United States Border Patrol pointed out a problem affecting half the continent.
The amount of detained migrants at the southern border of the United States, it is up 71% in March from the previous month, for a total of 172,331 people – a maximum in 15 years – and with a sharp increase in unaccompanied minors.
And to add to the drama, the number of unaccompanied minors registered a 100% increase in one month, with more than 18,000 children, according to data from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Numbers at the border “have been on the rise since April 2020 because of violence, natural disasters, food insecurity and poverty in Mexico and in the countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America,” the border patrol said.
But February was no less grim: About 100,000 undocumented immigrants were detained by CBP after entering the border into Mexico, a figure not seen since mid-2019, before the pandemic.
Mexico, for its part, reports its own dramas.
The National Institute of Migration (INM) reported that 31,492 migrants crossed the country between January 1 and March 21, an increase of 18% compared to the same period in 2020.
Those who drive out and those who pass by.
According to US data, 60% of those arrested at the border in March, a total of 103,900, were immediately expelled under so-called “Title 42”, a measure protected by the Covid-19 pandemic instituted under the government of the United States. former President Donald Trump and that Biden has stood.
That rule allows the United States to immediately expel solo adults and families. with children over seven years old.
According to data, by March 28% of those falling under “Title 42” had already crossed the border and been deported under the same measure.
Data from the Honduran Consular and Migration Observatory (Conmigho) shows that up to April 11, only 1,726 Hondurans were deported to the country from the United States. Of them there are 1,638 men, 72 women, in addition to 16 minors who went alone. The vast majority of returnees were sent through Mexico, a total of 11,130, of which 10,070 were men and 1,060 were women and 869 were minors.
As for the little ones who arrived alone, the number of 18,890 exceeds the previous record of May 2019 of 11,475; and it is also well above the maximum of 10,620 reached in June 2014, at the height of the migration crisis that occupied the administration of former President Barack Obama that year.
The Biden Executive It has been criticized because many children who have crossed the border have stayed in CBP detention centers for longer than legally allowed, which are not intended for children. Of the 18,890 unaccompanied minors detained in March, 15,843 were from the Northern Triangle of Central America, including 8,366 from Guatemala, 5,907 from Honduras and 1,570 from El Salvador; while 2,452 were Mexican and another 595 of other nationalities.
Those arrested by the Border Patrol because they surrender while crossing the Rio Grande or because they are discovered by the agents, they still have a long way to go. Border Patrol agents take their fingerprints, record their data, and then release them to a clinic where they must be tested for Covid-19.
From there, they walk to shelters such as the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, where family members claim them and even send them to tickets. From there, they have 60 days to report to one immigration police station (ICE) whether they are “in danger of being deported,” warns a document that is handed to them. This option is the lifeblood of many who enter the country as new illegal aliens.