Despite the closure of Roxham Road and selective immigration policies in the United States, nothing seems to dampen the hope of a better life for thousands of people from Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and from Asia, who took the northern route. The duty went to meet them at two nerve points of this great crossing, where vulnerability and determination coexist, where life and death intersect. Third text in a series of four.
In Ciudad Hidalgo, on the Mexican side of the border, the Paseo el Limón is a small hill from where it is possible to observe a strange spectacle. Below, the Suchiate River, a narrow, brownish waterway marking the border with Guatemala, is stormed by makeshift rafts — boards attached to inner tubes — transporting goods day and night gender and hundreds of migrants without status. Like nothing ever happened.
“You never really know what to expect. [Le nombre de personnes qui traverse] changes from one day to the next. But this year, overall, we can say that we have experienced an unprecedented increase,” explained Pierre-Marc René, communications officer at the sub-regional office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Chiapas.
Karen Pérez Martinez, who heads the Jesuit Refugee Service in Tapachula, the big city closest to the border, reports that last March, 1,500 to 2,000 people a day were crossing the border. “It created camps all over the city. It was at that point,” she maintains. “In September, we reached 3,000 to 5,000 per day! » At the beginning of November, during the stay of the Dutymigratory flows had slowed somewhat, due to a general strike in Panama, affecting transport.
A few steps from the Paseo el Limón, it is nevertheless crowded under the midday sun. In the shadow of a marquee, an immigration agent in a white polo shirt holds lists of people waiting to be called to take a free bus to Tapachula or Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital of Chiapas. “ At what time ? » « Cuando » ? shouts the crowd of migrants, buried by the deafening ringing of the bell of an ice cream vendor who has smelled a good deal.
“We have been waiting for two days for our number to be drawn,” whispers, exhausted, a young pregnant Haitian woman.
Tired of waiting, some travel the 40 km to Tapachula by taxi, bus and even on foot. “It is at their own risk,” agrees Pierre-Marc René. “There are a lot of checkpoints on the road. »
“Thieving police officers”
Sitting near a tree, John Solomon is angry. “Are you a journalist? », asks this young Haitian father, jumping up. “You need to talk about the Guatemalans treating us badly. »
Pointing across the bank, he describes how police officers posing as immigration agents took all his money. “If we don’t pay, they threaten to return us. They are police thieves. »
On the way, he said he was beaten. “They mistreat us. They put their hands in women’s bras and panties to see if there is money,” he says, still in shock.
This Haitian, who first immigrated to Chile before heading to the United States three weeks ago, describes an entire scheme which, according to him, serves to take advantage of migrants. “At night, the bus driver stops at several places to let the police come on. They do what they want with us. »
After the Darién, a very hostile territory to cross between Colombia and Panama, the border between Guatemala and Mexico emerged as the other most feared crossing, according to several migrants who were The duty had spoken up the road.
Lots of fears…and needs
“Paul?” You arrived ? » Met three days earlier in El Paraíso, Honduras, Paul Ernsolorens managed to travel more than 800 kilometers to the Mexican border. “Once we arrived in Mexico, we walked ten hours to come here, to Tapachula,” he says in a parking lot, in front of a gas station, where we arranged to meet him.
While waiting to bail out to head to Mexico City, the capital, the ten members of his group sleep on the floor on cardboard in a studio they rented.
Because crossing Guatemala cost him dearly. “To go quickly, we had to pay 250 US dollars per person for a guide,” he explains. To this was added US$50 per person to cross the Suchiate River to Mexico.
The 22-year-old would like to find work, but says he fears a certain racism. “I’m afraid because what’s more, I’m Haitian. It’s like a curse. We are not very well accepted. »
Accustomed to seeing migrants arrive from Central or South America, Karen Perez Martinez notes that in ten years, the face of immigration has changed. “Today, there are people from Afghanistan and Ukraine arriving. Tomorrow they will come from other places in the world. »
His organization works to tour neighborhoods to meet migrants and refugees and direct them to the right services. The needs are such that her center no longer knows where to turn, she admits. “We focus on legal issues and support. There is a lot of misinformation, so we are here to help them and sometimes explain to them how to regularize their status, here in Mexico. »
But, according to her, the majority of migrants are not in Mexico to settle there. “At least 7 out of 10 people will ask us how CBP One works and how to get an appointment. »
CBP One, the Holy Grail
“CBP One” is the application on which migrants must make a request if they want to be able to cross the border and request asylum in the United States. It was launched by the American border authorities (Customs and Border Protection) last May, when Title 42 ended, a provision implemented by the Trump government to counter the risks of the spread of COVID-19 and which served to immediately deport 2.8 million people in three years.
It is also the Holy Grail for many migrants who have only one idea in mind: to set foot on American soil. “We came to pass,” insists Bilali M’Boni, a Togolese we met in Honduras whom we see again in Tapachula, Mexico.
The CBP One application can now only work from Mexico City, which complicates the lives of migrants who must travel to this capital. This is more than 1000 km during which migrants will be at risk of falling into the hands of the local mafia, corrupt police officers or the migration authorities who could deport them. “I heard that you can get a card to be able to travel, but you need a lawyer,” added Bilali M’Boni.
The application, rated 2 stars on the Apple store, gives a hard time to those who do not speak the language, do not have recent devices or do not have a phone at all, since it has been lost or stolen on the way. But those who attempt to cross into the United States without having obtained an appointment through CBP One risk expulsion and even inadmissibility for five years.
For Paul Ernsolorens, failing is not an option. “We have to go there,” he said, determined. He wants to study at university, so that his grandmother, who raised him when his parents fled the coup in Haiti, will be proud. Does he give him any news? “No, I don’t tell her anything because she loves me very, very much and she would worry too much about me,” he whispers, with a tender smile. “I tell him: it’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay. You have to stay standing. » And keep moving forward.
This report was made possible thanks to the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.