More than a thousand migrants arrived on Tuesday in Ciudad Juárez, on the border between Mexico and the United States. After a ten-day journey, they were on a freight train hoping to reach American territory.
Most of these illegal migrants, the majority of whom are of Venezuelan origin, come from the state of Mexico (centre), a halfway point across the border for migrants from the far south of the country.
As soon as they arrived, the migrants threw their belongings on the ground and then jumped off the train. This type of travel often results in fatal accidents and injuries or mutilations.
The services responsible for monitoring migrants “tried to hunt us down several times,” explains Daiverson Muñoz, a 20-year-old Venezuelan. “And we’re stuck in the middle of the desert. But that’s okay, we’re here and we’re super happy because we’re about to make our dream come true. It was difficult, but not impossible.”
“The hardest thing was seeing how many people were injured during the trip,” continues Muñoz, a law student in his home country. The last part of the journey, 370 km, took 17 hours due to the many stops.
Because of restrictions on purchasing bus tickets, this risky journey is virtually the only way for illegal migrants to reach the border.
The influx forced Ferromex, Mexico’s largest rail operator, to reduce its traffic by 30% in mid-September while the government tightened security measures to prevent this type of travel.
Migration services “always screw us up and we always lose money,” said Jeffri Gómez, a 24-year-old Venezuelan traveling with her husband and 1-year-old baby.
As soon as they arrive, they encounter an official from the Mexican National Migration Institute (INM) and a barbed wire wall from the Texas National Guard on the banks of the Rio Bravo, the natural border with the United States.
Some migrants are waiting for the appointment they receive through the CBP One mobile application to attempt to enter the United States regularly. Others try to cross the border on foot to face the border police.
After three hours of walking, hundreds of them reached one of the border wall gates, where about fifty migration service employees and dozens of police officers were waiting to prevent them from crossing.
With their arms folded, the migrants advance and shout: “The people united will never be defeated!” until the men in uniform ask them to go back. The migrants then decide to camp near the fence designed to prevent their passage.