Given the incessant arrival of immigrants to the Rio Grande, the border between Mexico and the United States, the Texas National Guard implements a new regulation that consists of talking to migrants to dissuade them from leaving Mexican territory.
From the US side of the river, at Gate 40 between Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, hundreds of foreigners ask every day to be allowed to pass, but the Texan authorities insist on sending them to the bridges, where They do not allow minors who already have an appointment through the “CBP One” application to pass through.
“We want them to go to the bridge and ask for political asylum, they cannot enter through here. It is illegal to enter through here, if they enter through here they will be booked, we don’t want to do that. They listen? They understand? “We are not here to give political asylum,” said one of the agents.
“We are here so they don’t come in. Our job is to keep them out. Do it as correctly as possible, go to the bridge, please,” said the officer from US territory with a loudspeaker.
Hostilities in Texas
The actions of Texan officials occur despite the fact that the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, stated in May that the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has recently “moderated” because he previously had a “very aggressive” policy with migrants and Mexicans.
Likewise, they occur in the midst of numerous operations to stop migrants in the United States and Mexico, where in the first quarter of 2024 alone, irregular migration captured by the Government of Mexico grew by nearly 200% annually, up to almost 360,000 people.
Julia Ramírez, originally from Honduras, questioned the “inhuman and violent” conditions of the Texan guard.
“They treat some of them as if we were not people, they throw burstable pellets (rubber bullets) at the children and they fill their faces,” said the migrant.
On the other hand, Ecuadorian María Kaicedo, six months pregnant, managed to enter one night, but the Texas National Guard returned her “with violence” to the Mexican side of the border.
“If I had known that I was going to be received this way, I would never have done it. I am pregnant. I ran, I spat blood and they still took me out. So how come they say they are giving asylum to those who need it,” she lamented.
He added that it is dangerous to go to the bridges to request asylum as suggested by the Texas National Guard because the cartels and the personnel of the National Migration Institute (INM) of Mexico can capture them.
For this reason, he noted, they prefer to endure the attacks of the Texas National Guard and insist on crossing the Rio Grande, so that they can finally be handed over to the United States immigration authorities and request asylum.
“They shot that pepper spray at us. Girls who had cut themselves passing the barbed wire did not even help them, it is an inhumane thing. We know that we are doing wrong, invading lands, but we want an opportunity like they gave to others,” he said.
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