Juárez man arrested after 18 Cuban migrants found at home
Juárez man arrested on human trafficking charge after 18 Cuban migrants found at home
Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
Published 6:54 p.m. MT June 5, 2019
A Juárez man was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking after 18 Cuban migrants were found at a home, authorities said.
Chihuahua state police reported that the undocumented migrants had paid money to stay at a home in Juárez near the Bridge of the Americas, officials said.
State investigators arrested Joel R. Ch., 42, who was turned over to Mexican federal authorities.
State police said that the migrants were turned over to Mexican immigration authorities, who will shelter them while they resolve their immigration status.
More: Influx of Cuban migrants heading to El Paso create headaches for officials in Juarez
Since 2016, Juárez has had an influx of hundreds of Cubans trying to reach the U.S. border to seek asylum.
The first wave of Cuban migrants began arriving in early 2016 and has continued over the years.
Cuban migrants have said they traveled to countries in South and Central America to then make their way to Mexico and the El Paso border.
In 2017, the U.S. ended the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy that almost automatically admitted any Cuban who reached U.S. soil.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...unds&auto=webpMexico immigration officers detain Central American migrants found on a bus in Chihuahua state. (Photo: Courtesy Chihuahua attorney general's office)
Cubans are part of a current large influx of migrants, including thousands of men, women and children from Central America, arriving in Juárez with hopes of getting asylum in the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection only processes a few asylum seekers a day at the ports of entry, creating monthslong waits for migrants in Juárez.
In other developments, Mexican immigration authorities took custody of 38 migrants from Honduras and Guatemala, Chihuahua authorities said over the weekend.
Nine migrants were found in a pickup and the rest were passengers in commercial buses stopped on highways in Chihuahua state, officials said.
https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/ne...ed/1331932001/
