(Eagle Pass) Dozens of migrants again arrived at the ultra-protected border between the United States and Mexico on Friday, while the border police officially recorded 1.8 million crossings at its southern border over the past 12 months.
In Eagle Pass, Texas, migrants from Honduras or Venezuela crossed the Rio Grande, which separates the United States from Mexico, only to encounter an almost impassable wall of barbed wire preventing them from entering American territory.
PHOTO PAULA RAMON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Migrants run after crossing the Rio Grande at the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on September 22.
“I am happy because I am one step away… but I am sad because we cannot cross,” confides Noe Zelaya, a Honduran standing in front of the border with his wife and two children aged 12 and 5.
“They can’t get through,” warns one of the border guards, as Noe’s wife begs for help alongside her crying son.
“We couldn’t stand the Maras anymore,” says Noe, a mechanic in the Honduran town of San Pedro Sula, referring to organized crime in his country.
The family crossed the river with water up to their chests, just like a Venezuelan couple arriving at Eagle Pass under a blazing sun.
“I feel sad because I thought it would be easier to get here,” said Juan Diaz, 28, a Venezuelan army deserter fleeing his country’s political and economic crisis.
PHOTO JACKY MUNIELLO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Migrants cross the Rio Bravo from Piedras Negras, Mexico, to Eagle Pass, Texas, on September 22.
” I am going to fight ”
“But my dream is to get there, so I will fight,” he adds.
The young man continued upriver until he found an opening in the dense barbed wire jungle. On the other side of the border, he surrendered to the border police positioned a few meters away.
Thousands of people fleeing their countries have arrived in recent days at various Texas border crossings.
PHOTO JESUS OLARTE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Border agents arrest migrants along the Rio Grande on the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, September 22.
In August, the United States announced that it would establish a refugee aid program. Last month, 232,972 migrants crossed the southern border, an increase compared to previous months.
The Biden administration, under pressure from the Republican opposition which accuses it of having transformed the southern border into a sieve, is trying to reduce illegal immigration at the border while opening more legal channels.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is scheduled to meet with Honduran President Xiomara Castro in the Texas border city of McAllen on Saturday.