Thread: Venezuelan migrants set up encampment in Juárez as US expulsions mount

Venezuelan migrants set up encampment in Juárez as US expulsions mount


Lauren Villagran, El Paso Times
Wed, October 26, 2022 at 11:28 AM



JUÁREZ — Dozens of migrants set up an encampment in view of South El Paso overnight as the number of Venezuelans expelled by the U.S. to this Mexican border city swelled.

For days since the expulsions began Oct. 12, Venezuelans have been sleeping in the elements near the Mexican side of the Paso Del Norte Bridge. On Tuesday, Chihuahua state authorities asked the migrants to move away from a migrant aid center and the railroad tracks, and a large group pitched tents nearby on the south bank of the Rio Grande.

The accord between the Biden administration and government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador included 65,000 U.S. visas for Mexican, Central American and Haitian workers and 24,000 slots for Venezuelans seeking asylum in exchange for Mexico agreeing to take expelled Venezuelans at its northern border.






Venezuelan migrants set up an encampment on the south bank of the Rio Grande in Juárez. Many of the migrants have been expelled under Title 42 after seeking asylum and are hoping to be accepted as refugees in the U.S. In this photo, a woman looks toward the U.S. as she tries to stay warm.

Roughly 1,800 Venezuelan nationals have been expelled to Juárez in the past two weeks, according to Enrique Valenzuela, director of Chihuahua's migrant aid center in the city, the Centro de Atención Integral al Migrante. Many other Venezuelan migrants who were en route before policies changed are arriving in Juárez daily.

Several migrants in the encampment said they arrived recently in Juárez, hadn't yet crossed the U.S. border and were waiting for word of a change in policy.

"We're waiting for an answer," said Gilfred Jimenez, 21. "We're all waiting for an opportunity to cross. I have family, and they crossed and turned themselves in and were returned to Mexico over the bridge."

Mexico sent its secretary for North American affairs, Arturo Rocha, to El Paso and Juárez on Tuesday to review the "implementation of the new humanitarian plan for Venezuelan people in Mexico," according to a statement. Rocha met with U.N. personnel in Juárez and Border Patrol leadership in El Paso.

The shelter network in Juárez is overcrowded, according to aid workers, and the city has struggled to shelter the number of people being returned.

The Mexican government is issuing single Venezuelan adults who have been expelled by the U.S. a document stating they must "abandon the Mexican territory" within 15 days "by their own means." Many of the migrants have no resources, no family in the U.S. and no permission to work in Mexico.




Venezuelan migrants set up an encampment on the south bank of the Rio Grande in Juárez. Many of the migrants have been expelled under Title 42 after seeking asylum and are hoping to be accepted as refugees in the U.S. In this photo, a group of men set up a large tent.

Jesús Alberto Gómez Meneses woke up in the encampment Wednesday morning. He said he crossed the U.S. border in El Paso on Oct. 20 but was quickly expelled.
"They returned not just me but the whole group of Venezuelans," he said.

"Whoever crosses at night, by the morning they'll be returned, all the Venezuelans."

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Lauren Villagran may be reached at lvillagran@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @laurenvillagran.

This article originallyappeared on El Paso Times: Venezuelan migrants set up camp in Juárez as US expulsions mount




https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela...152842967.html

They are not refugees. No country wants these people, we do not want to pay for this.

Go home! Rebuild your own country.

Load on buses back over Mexico's southern border.