The journey of Nicaraguan migrants who travel to the United States is increasingly difficult due to the execution of restrictive government measures that seek to curb migration, such as the installation of barbed wire near the Rio Grande, and the risk that illegal travel entails. for Mexico.
“We have registered disappearances and we have also had an increase in calls for help from people who are in Mexico,” explains the immigrant lawyer, Astrid Montenegro, in an interview with the Esta Noche program.
As described by the defender, who is a member of the Nicaragua American Human Rights Alliance (NAHRA), among the most notable cases is that of a Nicaraguan woman who was kidnapped along with 200 other women by the coyote who had promised to take them to the US border.
In Mexico, the National Migration Institute (INM) reports an increase in “rescued migrants” in overcrowded and risky conditions. As described, in the same day they have rescued up to 1,608 people, which include mostly Central American migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and also Cubans.
According to official information, in the first four months of the year, the Mexican authorities rescued at least 8,487 Nicaraguans who were in extremely overcrowded conditions, inside refrigerated truck boxes, in water wells, and others who were rescued while being dragged. by the current of the Rio Grande.
The monthly bulletin of migration statistics from Mexico, which covers from January to March 2022, details that at least 617 Nicaraguans were deported to Nicaragua in that first quarter; while another 5,968 rescued nationals “were given an exit option other than deportation, assisted return, or expulsion,” which includes leaving the country on their own within a period of 30 days or legalizing their immigration stay.
More Nicaraguan migrants returned from the US to Mexico
The lawyer details that due to the wave of Nicaraguan migration there has also been an increase in Nicaraguans returned to Mexico after arriving in US territory. In March alone, there were 1,080 Nicaraguans who were sent back under the “Stay in Mexico” program or MPP (Migrant Protection Protocols). This is the highest figure recorded so far in 2022 and is almost seven times higher than that reported in December 2021.
It also explains that the arrests of Nicaraguans by the US border patrol have increased by up to 1,162% so far this year. Until March, the report was of 41,800 Nicaraguan women detained at the border.
“However, we have seen that the numbers of Nicaraguans have decreased in the month of March compared to the month of April. In the month of March we had 16,000 Nicaraguans who were detained by the Border Patrol and in the month of April it decreased to 12,500 people detained”, he explains.
Although the number of Nicaraguan migrants detained in detention centers is not yet known, because that calculation is made public at the end of the year, he points out, NAHRA has learned that they receive spoiled food, which even already has worms.
“He is also not given enough underwear or personal hygiene items. So they require family members to send them money so they can buy these products. Also, some people are in line for an extended time because these places are so overcrowded and they don’t have beds to put them in and there are no people to greet them. So the conditions, if they are precarious, are not optimal”, he explains.
They install barbed wires on the border with Mexico
In the last week, the Texas National Guard, USA, began to install barbed wires on the banks of the Rio Grande, also known as the Rio Bravo, which divides the border with Mexico, due to the massive increase in migrants who cross every day its waters in an attempt to reach that country.
The decision was announced last April by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who at the time informed that they will execute a series of “aggressive measures” to stem the “flow of drugs, human traffickers, illegal immigrants, weapons, and other contraband into Texas.”
As detailed, the measures include the installation of boat blockades, deployment of barbed wire at low-water crossings and high-traffic areas. In addition, soldiers from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Texas Military Department (TMD) will be provided with riot gear in the event of violence between the caravans and the migrants.
This Monday, the DHS reported that in April 2022 the record for migrants who entered the southern border of the United States was broken. According to details for 22 years, the highest figure was 221,000 in one month, but last month there was a total of 234,088, the detail by nationality of these is unknown.
The Texas National Guard is starting to place razor wire in the area where we’ve witnessed massive groups crossing into Eagle Pass, TX for the last several days in a row. They’ve just started breaking ground and are in the process of putting the first of many coils up. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/qCuOx3rAwH
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 14, 2022
The DHS details that of these migrants, 117,989 were released in the United States; while 96,908 were returned to Mexico under the Title 42 policy, which allows US authorities to expel illegal migrants who request asylum immediately to prevent the spread of covid-19. This measure is currently under discussion because it was announced that it will be eliminated on May 23, but 23 States are against it being lifted.
“They say that the elimination of the law will result in too many economic costs, that it will be very difficult for these States to be able to take charge of border security, in the protection of this law and they have asked a federal judge in the Prado Louisiana to cancel the guideline and allow these states to continue implementing Title 42,” explains immigration attorney Astrid Montealegre, a member of the Nicaragua American Human Rights Alliance (NAHRA).
The massive Nicaraguan migration has been driven by the lack of jobs caused by the economic, social and health crisis that Nicaragua is experiencing, plus political persecution, police harassment and the criminalization of dissent. In the last three months, at least 20 Nicaraguans have died trying to reach North American soil.
A count of CONFIDENTIAL, reveals that at least eight died in the waters of the Rio Grande, another eight in traffic accidents, two abandoned in trailers and the death of an 18-year-old girl who suffered a heart attack is reported. Of the total deaths, two were four-year-old children, eight women and 10 men. Most were from Managua, but cases have been reported from nine departments in the country. Among the deceased there are two cases of father and son who did not survive.
