The United States Border Patrol rescued two Cuban women, mother and daughter, who were trapped in the Rio Grande, in the Mexican city of Reynosa, south of Texas. According to the chief officer of the Valley sectorGloria Chávez, the women were “abandoned” by coyotes 100 meters from the Anzaldúas diversion plant.
With the support of the Mission, Texas Fire Department, the “rescue in rapid and shallow waters” was carried out, Chavez explained.
Mexican media specified that the Cubans were trapped “after the gates of the diversion plant were opened and current was released,” for which they dialed 911 requesting help.
Between October 2021 and last September, the Border Patrol rescued 22,014 migrants, 72% more than in 2021. According to data from the Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in this same period there were 853 deaths of irregular migrants. in his attempt to cross the border between Mexico and the United States.
Regarding the exodus of Cubans, in the fiscal year that just ended in September and began in October 2021, the Border Patrol detained 224,607 Cubans without documentationa figure that grows to 471% compared to the same period a year earlier.
On their journey to the United States through Mexico, Cubans face extortion, robbery, rape and a network of coyotes that, in some cases, abandon them in the desert or in the middle of the Rio Grande, as happened to this Cuban mother and her daughter .
“Smuggling organizations abandon migrants in remote and dangerous areas, which has led to an increase in the number of rescues, but also, tragically, an increase in the death toll,” a CBP spokeswoman told CBS News. Cecilia Barrada.
The official stressed that migrants face “extreme heat and the miles of desert they must walk after crossing the border in many areas is unforgiving” on their journey across the border.
By sea, the exodus of rafters also reaches alarming figures. This Wednesday nine Cubans were arrested after landing in Biscayne National Park, a nature reserve in the bay of the same name, in Florida.
The head of the Border Patrol in the Miami sector, Walter Slosar, reported that another group with nine Cuban nationals made landfall on Tuesday at Cocoplum Beach in Marathon. With these, there would be 110 Cubans who arrived in Florida in the last 48 hours, of which “52 did so in 12 hours.”
The US Coast Guard intercepted 1,132 Cubans last month, a significant figure if one takes into account that in the previous twelve months there were 6,182.
Meanwhile, on the journey through Mexico, there is again talk of the formation of caravans that seek to reach the border with the United States. The figures already exceed 100, although many of them are dissolved by the immigration authorities.
This Wednesday a new caravan, mostly with Venezuelans, left Chiapas, on the southern border of Mexico, heading to the United States as a protest on the 20th day after the announcement of the new US measures to control migration from Venezuela.
The migrants, who remained in the plaza of Tapachula, on the border between Mexico and Guatemala, demand that the United States revoke the expansion of Title 42, which immediately expel Venezuelans arriving by land to that country.
The South Americans asked to be given free passage and allowed to work because they refuse to return to Venezuela. The migrant Juan Méndez explained that they have come out calmly and trusts that at “any moment” they will reopen the US border to Venezuelans.
“We are good people, and what the Mexican authorities do is persecute us like criminals, we are asking Mexico to help us, because we already have no money and we have had to ask,” he told EFE.
The Venezuelans were joined by migrants from Colombia and Ecuador, such as the Colombian Luis Kevin Montaño, who warned that his companions in the caravan are determined to reach the United States.
“In my case I leave because of problems, I’m not going because I want to leave my country, so we’re going to walk to get to the United States,” he said.
This is the first migrant caravan to leave in November from the southern border. “We left, join us, let us continue, we want to work, we are not criminals, we are hard-working people, yes you can, yes you can,” exclaimed the foreigners on their way.
Prior to their departure, the Immigration authorities and the National Guard arrived at the park where they were camping to invite them to carry out their paperwork, but they rejected the process. The authorities then launched an immigration control operation in hotels and streets of Tapachula, where they detained more than 50 migrants who did not prove their legal stay.
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