Thread: TX. African migrants surge at U.S.-Mexico border; Rio Grande drownings up

SEPT. 4, 2018 / 3:43 PM

African migrants surge at U.S.-Mexico border; Rio Grande drownings up

By Patrick Timmons

People entering the United States walk past asylum-seeking immigrants from Guatemala and Cuba who wait in the middle of the bridge between Matamoros, Mexico and Brownsville, Texas on June 29. File Photo by Larry W. Smith/EPA-EFE

MEXICO CITY, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Piedras Negras, a city across the U.S.-Mexico border from Eagle Pass, Texas, saw the arrival of more than 90 refugees in the past two months from war-ravaged African countries trying to flee to the United States.

Eagle Pass has also seen 15 migrants from Latin American countries dying as they tried to enter the United States this year, either drowning while crossing the Rio Grande river or from heat stroke.

Many of the African refugees had been travelling for at least three years, the Rev. José Valdés, an advocate for migrants' rights told UPI in a phone interview from Piedras Negras, where the Catholic Church runs a shelter.

"After leaving Cameroon, Angola and the Congo they arrived in South America. Then they made it to Guatemala, and after crossing into Mexico at Tapachula, Mexican authorities provided them with two-week transit visas so they could cross through the country legally to the United States, where they are seeking asylum," Valdés said.

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"They were fleeing war but some were also escaping persecution for their beliefs," said Valdés, who serves as media spokesman for the Piedras Negras-based Casa del Migrante Frontera Digna shelter and advises immigrants there.

"The Africans came to Piedras Negras because they heard it is a safer border city than the rest," Valdés said.

To the east is the state of Tamaulipas, one of Mexico's most dangerous states and a hotbed of organized criminal activity. To the west is the border metropolis of Ciudad Juárez, which has experienced a surge in violent homicides.

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"There were at least 16 nuclear families with children who traveled to Piedras Negras to wait their turn to request political asylum in the United States," Valdés said. "They crossed the border formally at the international bridge to request political asylum from U.S. authorities."

Valdés said the African refugees waited in Piedras Negras until they obtained an appointment with U.S. immigration officers to make their asylum claim.

This summer, Customs and Border Protection officers routinely told asylum seekers attempting to enter U.S. ports of entry they would have to wait in Mexico until an appointment with an immigration officer became available. The practice of making asylum seekers wait in Mexico sparked criticism as possibly in violation of U.S. international treaty obligations. It also forced migrants to sleep rough in Mexican border cities like Tijuana, Matamoros and Nogales, a situation Piedras Negras wanted to avoid.

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Until last week, the number of Africans arriving each day overwhelmed Piedras Negras' two migrant shelters. One of the shelters is run by the city and usually only accommodates minors, but city officials relaxed that restriction to house the African refugees.

Officials also turned a gym into a temporary shelter.

"The gym was only open for two or three days," Valdés said. "Migrants could not sleep on the street as the temperature in Piedras Negras this summer was unbearable, more than 40 degrees [Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit] and no shade. Having migrants sleep rough can also lead to social problems."

Overwhelmed, city officials reached out to U.S. immigration authorities for help, Piedras Negras Mayor Sonia Villareal told Mexican newspaper Zócalo.

For three weeks, the U.S. accepted 12 asylum applications a day instead of just three, to clear the backlog.

"If other asylum seekers now turn up at the bridge and U.S. authorities say they have no appointments available, they turn them back.

The situation has returned to what it was," Valdes said.

José María Fraustro, the state of Coahuila's Interior Minister told Mexican news media about 25 migrants arrived daily during the summer months at Piedras Negras.

Now, Fraustro said only about five migrants a day arrive at Piedras Negras. That's because Mexico's immigration authorities have deployed agents on northbound highways for immigration checks, he said. Authorities also say they are telling refugees they have the option of requesting political asylum in Mexico.

"We aren't seeing entire families anymore," Valdés said. "Recently, African mothers with children have been arriving, and normally they are accompanied by a man who is leading them."

Meanwhile, it's been a deadly year for U.S.-bound migrants who swim the river.

Mexico's consul in Eagle Pass, Arturo Rueda Brown, said 15 migrants have died this year while trying to cross the Rio Grande into the United States -- the same number as died crossing the same stretch of river in all of 2017.

"In one week we had four drowning deaths," Valdés said.

"These deaths happen because migrants feel besieged by Mexico's immigration authorities.

The migrants know they can't be here very long and the Casa del Migrante is often full and we can't accept more people. There just isn't enough space. So the migrants are forced to cross the river by swimming and it's very dangerous and they are risking their lives."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a press release describing how its agents in Eagle Pass rescued three families from the river in a 24-hour period starting Aug. 24.

On Sunday, a Border Patrol agent shot a 48-year old Honduran man in the arm after he had crossed the river and been apprehended, according to a CBP press release. Border Patrol said the officer feared assault and shot the man, who was then taken to hospital in San Antonio for treatment. He was then transported back to Eagle Pass to initiate deportation.

The unnamed Border Patrol officer has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

https://www.upi.com/African-migrants...6601536004955/

"After leaving Cameroon, Angola and the Congo they arrived in South America. Then they made it to Guatemala, and after crossing into Mexico at Tapachula, Mexican authorities provided them with two-week transit visas so they could cross through the country legally to the United States, where they are seeking asylum," Valdés said.

The new so-called trade agreement with Mexico should have done away with the two-week transit visas and required asylum seekers be forced to apply for asylum in Mexico!

11 Facts about HIV in Africa

• Out of the 34 million HIV-positive people worldwide, 69% live in sub-Saharan Africa. There are roughly 23.8 million infected persons in all of Africa.
• 91% of the world’s HIV-positive children live in Africa.
• More than one million adults and children die every year from HIV/AIDS in Africa alone. In 2011, 1.7 million people worldwide died from AIDS.
• Since the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, more than 75 million people have contracted the illness, and over 36 million have died from an HIV-related cause.
• 71% of the HIV/AIDS-related deaths in 2011 were people living in Africa.

• Antiretroviral drug treatments can tremendously decrease the number of HIV-related deaths by delaying the progression of the virus and allowing people to live relatively healthy, normal lives.
• Due to an insufficient supply of antiretroviral drugs and health care providers in 2010, only 5 of the 10 million HIV-positive patients in Africa were able to receive treatment.
• Because of HIV/AIDs, the average life-expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is 54.4 years of age. In some countries in Africa, it’s below 49.
• The HIV/AIDS epidemic has drastically slowed the economic growth and social development in Africa, because hundreds of thousands of people are unable to work or receive an education.
• Contraceptive use of condoms has doubled in recent years because it is an inexpensive provision to offer to both the HIV-positive and negative. However, the method is void when couples are hoping to conceive or have already engaged with infected persons.
• A pregnant woman not treated with the proper drugs, has a 20-45% chance that her infant will contract the virus from pregnancy. 59% of HIV-positive people in Africa are women, the majority of children diagnosed with HIV get the virus from their mothers.

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-hiv-africa

These folks would be the same people that have saturated Europe. The NGOs that are transporting them to Europe are transporting them across an ocean so they can saturate this country as well. JMO

Every country they pass through...DUMPS them on the next.

Deport them BACK over the 1st border they illegally crossed.

And of course, they have NO problem romping in a puddle of dirt and have more mouths they cannot feed.

Truly disgusting!

No asylum at our Ports of Entry...your disgusting poverty due to YOUR overbreeding is YOUR choice and not our responsibility to pay for.

GET ON BIRTH CONTROL AND STAY OUT OF MY COUNTRY!

No one should be applying for asylum in the United States. They have no condition in their countries that warrants it.

What countries in Africa are currently at war?

There are currently fifteen African countries involved in war, or are experiencing post-war conflict and tension.

In West Africa, the countries include Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

In East Africa, the countries include Eritrea,Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda.

Africa Sun News - Africa Wars & Conflicts
www.africasunnews.com/wars.ht

So what? It's their own civil wars, that isn't our problem.

Originally Posted by MW

11 Facts about HIV in Africa

• Out of the 34 million HIV-positive people worldwide, 69% live in sub-Saharan Africa. There are roughly 23.8 million infected persons in all of Africa.
• 91% of the world’s HIV-positive children live in Africa.
• More than one million adults and children die every year from HIV/AIDS in Africa alone. In 2011, 1.7 million people worldwide died from AIDS.
• Since the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, more than 75 million people have contracted the illness, and over 36 million have died from an HIV-related cause.
• 71% of the HIV/AIDS-related deaths in 2011 were people living in Africa.

• Antiretroviral drug treatments can tremendously decrease the number of HIV-related deaths by delaying the progression of the virus and allowing people to live relatively healthy, normal lives.
• Due to an insufficient supply of antiretroviral drugs and health care providers in 2010, only 5 of the 10 million HIV-positive patients in Africa were able to receive treatment.
• Because of HIV/AIDs, the average life-expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is 54.4 years of age. In some countries in Africa, it’s below 49.
• The HIV/AIDS epidemic has drastically slowed the economic growth and social development in Africa, because hundreds of thousands of people are unable to work or receive an education.
• Contraceptive use of condoms has doubled in recent years because it is an inexpensive provision to offer to both the HIV-positive and negative. However, the method is void when couples are hoping to conceive or have already engaged with infected persons.
• A pregnant woman not treated with the proper drugs, has a 20-45% chance that her infant will contract the virus from pregnancy. 59% of HIV-positive people in Africa are women, the majority of children diagnosed with HIV get the virus from their mothers.

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-hiv-africa

We have a cure for AIDS. Condoms and sterilized needles. NO money should be spent on AIDS research.

None of these asylum seekers have any proof they are being persecuted. It's just a scam to come here and go on welfare and live off the hated white man.