JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – Mexican immigration authorities have cleared from the banks of the Rio Grande dozens of families waiting to cross the border and file asylum claims in the U.S.
Authorities told a Border Report camera crew they “invited” the migrants to leave the river and go to shelters because of concerns of heat-related illnesses and dehydration. This, given the El Paso-Juarez region has experienced triple-digit temperatures in the past few days.
However, some migrants said they weren’t “invited” to do anything; they were just ordered to leave the river.
“I told them, “Don’t send us back. Don’t be mean. What are you going to tell your children you did at work today?” said Alexander, a Venezuelan who was among those told to leave. “I don’t know where they took my cousin. They put him in a van and left.”
Alexander and his wife are now in a Juarez shelter. On Friday, they received information on applying for U.S. asylum online through the CBP One app, but Alexander doesn’t know how they will survive in Mexico for however weeks or months it takes to get an appointment.
He said his family is fleeing corruption and poverty in Venezuela and was expecting a swift crossing into the U.S. once he got to Juarez. Instead, he was welcomed by the barbwire on the U.S. side and the military patrols on the Mexican side.
“I will tell you the truth: After all the hardships, the starvation, the blisters on my feet, nothing surprises me anymore,” he said.
In addition to the Mexican patrols, asylum-seekers are being turned back by the Texas Army National Guard on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande.
“They told us we could not cross. That it was closed; that tomorrow (Saturday) at the bridges they will be letting 4,000 people go across,” said Lorena, a Colombian asylum-seeker whose family attempted to cross near Gate 40 of the border wall in El Paso, Texas.
“The soldier got close to us carrying a gun and told us to go to the bridge. We told them (U.S.) immigration at the bridge told us to go to the gate. [….] One tells us one thing, the other something else.”
Two Venezuelan woman accompanied by two minors on Friday afternoon found a gap in the Texas barbwire and crossed into the U.S. They were quickly surrounded by Texas Department of Public Safety personnel.
“Wait! Go back! Go!” a trooper called out.
The family reluctantly complied. They were last seen walking back to the Juarez urban sprawl.
According to the U.S. Border Patrol, agents in the El Paso Sector are encountering an average of 750 migrants between ports of entry every day. Most of those are Mexican nationals, Venezuelans and Guatemalans.
“The U.S. Border Patrol processes people found at the border who have crossed the border illegally between the ports of entry using its Title 8 authority, which carries significant consequences, including removal and barring people from re-entry for a minimum period of five years,” the agency said in a statement to Border Report on Friday
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