By EFE
Dozens of migrant children celebrated April 30, Children’s Day on the border of the United States and Mexico, right on the Rio Grande. The little ones forgot for a moment the hunger, the diseases and the barricade of knives that separates them from achieving their dream.
The Ángeles Messengers collective went to gate 40 of the border wall between the Mexican Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas where hundreds of migrants, including about 50 children, are waiting for the moment to defy the Texas National Guard and cross into the United States.
The organization’s volunteers delivered toys, brought clowns, played games, gave food and a moment of prayer and faith to the children who were with their families.
“Migrant children want to walk in peace”
“Migrant boys and girls want to walk in peace,” the minors shouted in unison, EFE reported. The Venezuelan Mayreli Valero is the mother of María Ángela Páez Valero and together they have traveled thousands of kilometers in several countries to reach the border of Juárez.
“They (the children) have come from a very difficult journey, they have been kidnapped. We have been kidnapped by (the National Institute of) Migration and I am very grateful to them (the groups) that they are spending a different day,” he explained.
One of the great challenges is hunger and cold
The woman reported that “there are many children who are sick” because the border camp “is not suitable for children, nor adults either.” She added that in addition to the hostility of the trip and the border, one of the great challenges is hunger and cold.
“If we have breakfast, we don’t have lunch. They go to bed hungry, it is very cold. A little help would not be bad for us,” said Valero, who said that they have already been on the river for four days.
The girl Yosbeli Enrique Mielitera Méndez agreed with that, who said that the hardest part has been the journey through Mexico, due to the persecutions of the Immigration agents.
“I feel very happy, I know it is a difficult thing. They told me when I lived in Colombia. I lived 7 years in Venezuela and I moved to Colombia when I was about 7, I lived there for three years, I knew what we were coming for, that it was going to be a hard thing, we have to reach the goal,” he narrated.
Greater actions against irregular migration
The event occurred a day after the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and that of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, announced greater actions against irregular migration after a phone call.
López Obrador stated that irregular migration has fallen “by half” after the figure of 12,000 migrants a day on the northern border since the end of last year, but stories like Yosbeli’s show that the situation on the ground is still difficult.
“The jungle was like a game for me, but what was difficult for me was Mexico. The Migration (was) following us, but I have always had good things, I am very happy knowing that we are so close to the goal,” added Yosbeli while holding a toy.
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