More than 300 Nicaraguans who arrived in the United States in the last two years, due to the political crisis in the country at the hands of the Daniel Ortega regime, participated this Saturday, March 26, in the “political asylum clinic and immigration status.
The activity took place from one to four in the afternoon in the hall of the Santa Agatha parish, in Miami, United States, where the auxiliary bishop of Managua, Monsignor Silvio José Báez, provides religious services.
Related news: They promote talk on political asylum in the US due to the accelerated increase in migration of Nicaraguans
“God bless our fellow exiles in this country!” Monsignor Báez wrote, through his Facebook account, where he reported the event.
Migration specialists from the Catholic Charities Legal Services Department of the Archdiocese of Miami participated in the talk.
For his part, the parish priest of the Santa Agatha church, Marcos Somarriba, told Article 66 that the objective of the clinic is to orient, enlighten, guide and offer clarity “for so many brothers and sisters who arrive without guidance on migrant laws and rights.”
The prelate added that the attention for the Nicaraguan compatriots was free. “Total service by the Florida International University (FIU) immigration clinic, in conjunction with the Office of Immigration Legal Affairs of the Archdiocese of Miami, convened by the parish of Santa Agatha,” he explained.
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Somarriba indicated that at the moment no other humanitarian activity is planned by the parish. “We will gladly attend to the needs of these people.”
Deaths trying to reach the United States
In recent weeks, the death of at least two Nicaraguan women who lost their lives crossing the Rio Grande on the Mexico-United States border has been reported, one of them traveling with her minor daughter who also died.
The most recent of the cases was that of Gabriela Tatiana Espinoza Pérez, 32 years old. Local Mexican media reported that the woman was swept away by the currents of the river when she was looking for the “American dream” despite the fact that she knew how to swim. The event occurred on Monday, March 21.
Espinoza Pérez was traveling with a man and a girl who did manage to cross the border between Mexico and the United States. Reports indicate that a fisherman tried to rescue her from her, but could not reach her as she was dragged by the waters. Minutes later they rescued her body without vital signs.
Related news: They make a collection to repatriate a Nicaraguan who died in the Rio Grande
Between January and November 2021, 650 people died when they tried to cross the border between Mexico and the United States, according to reports from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency that monitors migration. This figure exceeds the 275 and 265 deaths of 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Dozens of citizens trying to reach US land are registered daily. They risk their lives and that of their children in search of new opportunities and to protect their physical integrity.
