In makeshift camps and shelters, hundreds of migrants who managed to cross from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to the United States spent the cold early Friday morning. The cyclone bomb that affects the northern country caused temperatures of up to -9 degrees Celsius to be recorded, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in El Paso, Texas.
José Miguel Alegría, a Venezuelan migrant, managed to find accommodation in the shelter set up by the Sacred Heart Church, where he assured that there were 250 people including children, women and men. “They came to look for us here because they knew that the cold wave that was coming was quite strong. We are not used to this and it affected me a lot, ”he told the Voice of America.
Other migrants were unable to find a shelter with the capacity to stay overnight, so they were forced to be on the streets.
“They left us here like we are not human beings. The night was strong, I couldn’t find anything to wrap myself up in and when someone comes I help to try to warm my body, entertain myself, if I stay still I won’t bear the cold,” he told the VOA Anthony Barreto, who arrived in El Paso last Sunday night, “like everyone else, through the hole,” he said.
Richard Daniel Vázquez, 22, arrived in El Paso a day ago and had to spend his first night on a sidewalk with other migrants. “I was very cold because my clothes were wet. I went through the river and I was getting hypothermia, I couldn’t control myself,” he said.. He also assured that he tried to find a refuge, but was unsuccessful.
Amid the frigid weather, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office emphasized that the US borders are not open to migrants. “Weather conditions will drop temperatures to dangerous levels this week. It is a dangerous situation, do not risk your life,” they wrote on their official page.
I went through the river and I was getting hypothermia, I couldn’t control myself”
Citizens of El Paso decided to approach the migrants with supplies such as food, hot chocolate and clothing, motivated by the reality that these people go through when they arrive in the US.
“We are a family that wanted to do something for our people. Today, when it’s so cold, we wanted to do a little bit to help you. They told us to bring burritos, sodas, milk and socks,” she explained to the VOA Blanca García, a resident of the area, who was in a makeshift migrant camp.
They are motivated, he said, by the fact that “we are all human and we understand that they are going through very difficult situations. They are looking for a better situation.”
On the other side of the border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, authorities approached migrants who remained along the Rio Grande River waiting to cross into the US, to alert them to the risks of this bomb cyclone.
In Photos | Objects left behind show the journey of migrants across the border
Shoes, dolls and clothes are some of the objects that are being left behind. Salomé Ramírez, special envoy to the US-Mexico border, shows what the place looks like these days.
“I cannot violate their right to be here (at the border) as adults, but we cannot have any children here, we put them in danger of even dying of hypothermia. They (migrants) are doing their part because they really want to protect their children,” she told the VOA Jesús Rodolfo Villa Rivera, deputy attorney for the protection of minors in Ciudad Juárez.
The government official assured that health services for minors who are sick are available in the sub-prosecutor’s office together with the State Health Secretariat.
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