Diversity of nationalities and professions among migrants on the border that separates the US and Mexico

Neris Arruaz carried her 2-year-old girl in one arm and in the other a red bag with some diapers inside. She has come to the social service organization Ayudandos A Triunfar, in the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, to ask for a few more.

Arruaz, her husband, and their two young children are from Cuba. They arrived at the US-Mexico border in April and are not sure when they will be able to report to a port of entry. In Cuba, she was an accountant and her husband was her vet.

As Cubans, Arruaz and his family are part of one of the demographic groups with the highest increase in encounters along the southern US border, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

In the past, most migrants entering the US or being apprehended at the Mexican border came from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

In recent months, CBP officials have noticed a change. Now the majority flee Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti. CBP data shows that some even They come from as far away as China. and Afghanistan. On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)reported the removal of migrants from more than 30 countries.

Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a nonprofit human rights group, shared his opinion on Twitter about CBP data on migrant crossings. The expert noted that there were “no big changes” between the number of migrants detained between ports of entry from February to April; except for Venezuela, from where 1,451 migrants were found in February, 3,313 in March and 29,656 in April.

“… The citizens [venezolanos] they seemed unfazed by the possible expulsion through Title 42 to Mexico. Or they were misinformed. Or both,” she wrote.

Isacson also noted “a little more diversity of countries” at ports of entry.

US officials say that between February and April, the US Border Patrol. he has also encountered immigrants from Brazil, Colombia, India, Romania, Russia, and Turkey.

Carlos Navarro, pastor of the West Brownsville, Texas Baptist Church, told the voice of america that it is not only a trend in nationalities, but also that you see different social origins at the border. “Not only from all kinds of nationalities, but from different origins, social strata, people with degrees, engineers, doctors, lawyers, architects.”

Navarro and the parishioners of his church have a program to receive and care for immigrants seeking asylum.

“In other words, it shows that for them to leave their country, being professionals, it is because something is not convenient for them,” he said.

No more Title 42

The public health measure known as Title 42, implemented at the border during the pandemic, officially expired on May 11. It allowed border agents to immediately expel migrants back to Mexico or their countries of origin.

Now, immigrants at the border are being processed under Title 8, the US law that covers immigration. It allows migrants to seek asylum or other relief in the United States if they fear persecution at home.

“This is a long-standing immigration enforcement authority that various administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have used to prosecute people,” Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters late in April. “It carries severe consequences for irregular migration, including a re-entry ban of at least five years and possible criminal prosecution for repeated attempts to cross illegally.”

Under the law, US immigration officials have sent thousands of people who crossed illegally back to Mexico or their country of origin.

Many at the border say they want to follow the rules, but it’s too hard to come to the United States.

A Chinese migrant, who did not want to give his name, told the VOA who owned a small business in his country. He fled the economic impacts of the Beijing government’s COVID-19 lockdowns to try his hand at the southern US border.

“You have to pay salaries to other things and you also have to take care of yourself. Now there is a lot of pressure. So, I wanted to come here through formal procedures. But, on the one hand, the US does not allow us to come, and on the other hand, China will not let us go. We are forced to do it this way, we have no other means,” he explained.

Farah, a Haitian migrant who also did not want to share her full name, said her family of five has been waiting for the chance to cross into the United States for the past three months.

“Be patient with us. We come a long way,” he said. “And things are going really bad in our country. They are killing innocent people. So we can’t go back to our country.”

Farah, her husband and children were staying at a shelter in the Mexican border town of Reynosa. The family is trying to get an appointment using the CBP One app, a mobile app released by CBPto appear at a port of entry and comply with the latest asylum restriction.

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