Migrants wait to be transported to a paperwork center in Jacumba Hot Springs after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on December 13. Photo: Katie McTiernan/Anadolu/Getty.
It's eight o'clock on a cold fall morning when the volunteer organization's truck pulls up to the border wall between Mexico and the United States in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. Dozens of people emerge from makeshift tents around small campfires to welcome them and line up to get some of the bottles of water and peanut butter sandwiches the organization is handing out.
More than 200 people are camping at this site in the shadow of the border wall, one of three similar sites in the desert east of the city of San Diego, California. Migrant rights organizations view these camps as open-air detention centers. Most of its residents entered the United States through holes in the wall and then sought asylum from federal authorities. According to the information, the US Border Patrol instructed them to go to these camps while they wait for their application to be processed.
Migrants line up after crossing the border in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. Katie McTiernan/Anadolu (Getty).
Yazmín Calderón, a 40-year-old Colombian asylum seeker who claims to have fled domestic violence and threats from criminal groups, says she was intercepted by US authorities four days ago. He says the Border Patrol gave him a bracelet with the date of his arrival, ostensibly to make it easier to process migrants in the order in which they crossed the border. But he doesn't know what will happen to him next and when. When Calderón asked, he said the guards did not answer him: “They look at you with anger, disgust and contempt. So we’re aimless because you don’t know who to ask,” she says.
After a long journey that took her to the USA, the conditions in the desert are now difficult for her to bear. He says the worst thing is the cold at night. In mid-November, night temperatures in this desert can drop to -1 degrees Celsius, and there has been recent rain.
“We all huddle together, bundle up and look for a way to stay warm because the night in the desert is hard,” he says. Water bottles freeze overnight.
Border friendliness
Jacqueline Arellano, U.S. program director at Kindad Frontera, a nonprofit that helps migrants, said the Border Patrol reiterates that people found in these locations are not being detained. “However, if a person is given a bracelet, given the parameters and instructions as to where they are supposed to be, and they know that they have to cooperate with the border police to comply with the asylum process to which they are legally entitled, how can you then confirm that?” is not recorded?” he asks. According to Arellano, no US government agency takes care of these migrants, but rather the help lies in the hands of volunteer organizations like his. Kindness Frontera volunteers often venture into the deserts and mountains along the U.S.-Mexico border to provide water and supplies to migrants. They now also help with daily assistance to migrants in the Jacumba Hot Springs camps.
Migrants usually stay in the camps for several days until the authorities take them to another center to process their asylum applications. He explains that the Border Patrol sometimes asks volunteers to bring certain products for migrants who need them. “We used to feel rejected, but now the authorities trust our organization.”
Customs and Border Protection told the Guardian it was “mobilizing all resources and partnerships to process and filter migrants in accordance with the law.” “The agency continues to increase resources for staffing, transportation, paperwork and humanitarian assistance in the busiest and most challenging areas throughout the San Diego border region, where migrants are dropped off by unscrupulous, for-profit smuggling organizations, often without adequate preparation.”
Aunt Bunny
As the volunteers make their rounds to check on the migrants in the camp, a new group of about thirty migrants arrives on foot. They wear backpacks, are covered in dust and look tired. A border patrol car drives past without stopping.
Among the volunteers at Jacumba Hot Springs is a woman some migrants call “Aunt Bunny” who The Guardian prefers not to identify to protect her identity.
Born and raised in the desert region, she says learning basic first aid and survival skills, such as treating rattlesnake bites and putting out fires, is part of her culture. For more than a month, Aunt Bunny has been on the front lines of medical care in these camps. He visits migrants several times a day: he checks new arrivals, monitors people with chronic illnesses and treats injuries – all with donated supplies that he loads into the back of his SUV.
He thinks the situation is chaotic. “If our government is going to allow this to happen, and it is, it needs to deal with it more appropriately. “A bottle of water a day and a granola bar – that’s what tariff protection gives people – don’t have enough calories,” he complains.
Dehydration is a major problem, made worse by the cold at night. People with diabetes, high blood pressure and other illnesses cannot receive adequate treatment in the makeshift camps, and some have lost their insulin, inhalers and other medications while crossing the border.
The woman also has to deal with the injuries she sustained during the journey north, particularly those caused by crossing the Darién, Panama's treacherous jungle. “Darién’s wounds become infected and begin to burst,” he explains. “It’s chaos, a catastrophe.”
Climate crisis
Traveling from Latin American countries to the US has always been dangerous, but the climate crisis is making it even more difficult. With record temperatures in the southern United States, volunteers caring for migrants in the desert are working tirelessly to meet increasing needs.
Between October 2021 and September 2022, at least 853 people died while illegally crossing the border between the United States and Mexico, according to the CBS internal border patrol. That is a record number. And the total will be higher because the official data only takes into account the bodies recovered.
A view of the campsite along the wall in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, on December 1st. Mario Tama/Getty
Every weekend, volunteers from the Armadillos search and rescue group, whose motto is “Not one less migrant,” go to the deserts of California and Arizona in search of remains. “It’s a very dangerous job,” says César Ortigoza, co-founder of the group. “We have to freeze the water we transport because when we enter the desert very early in the morning, two or three hours later, the water is already hot.”
When volunteers find a body, often a skeleton, surrounded by personal items, they post photos on social media to see if relatives can identify it. Ortigoza says that once the wife of a missing person identified the bracelet from the remains she found in the desert. He was one of four cousins who traveled north from Mexico; Armadillos eventually found two of their bodies in the desert.
Armadillos volunteers then provide the Border Patrol with the exact coordinates of the remains so they can collect them and conduct the appropriate forensic tests. Finally, they connect families with their consulates, who work with the U.S. government to repatriate their loved ones' bodies. “We are our brothers and sisters’ only hope of finding their loved ones,” Ortigoza said. “As we help return the body to his family, we also feel peace of mind and pride in the work we do.”
Big needs
Organizations such as Kindad Frontera and Armadillos point out that they are doing a job consistent with the authorities.
In the White House budget proposal released last month, President Joe Biden included funding for border security to increase the number of people working on asylum cases and hire more Border Patrol agents.
The volunteers have day jobs and help migrants early in the morning and on weekends. Aunt Bunny and other local volunteers are retired.
Arellano, from Bondad Frontera, assures that the resources of aid groups and local volunteers are exhausted. “Programs that have already provided life-saving support at the border are now providing life-saving support in open-air detention centers. “We are at the limit, our resources are running out and someone could die.”
In his opinion, this situation is unsustainable in both the short and long term. “I don’t think the general public, not even those affected themselves, are aware that the climate crisis is driving migration. Without a doubt it is a relevant factor. And it makes the relief efforts enormously more difficult. The need for supplies is greater than ever. The death toll is higher than ever. “We need to replenish supplies faster.”
“I think the part that upsets me the most is that this situation is unnecessary,” Aunt Bunny laments. “I have heard border officials say that migrants would tell their friends what the situation is here and that would stop them from coming. But his friends will come anyway. My grandmother wanted to come to the United States from Ireland, and she did. And if I hadn’t done it, my grandchildren wouldn’t exist.”
Calderón, the Colombian asylum seeker, is frustrated by waiting in the harsh conditions in the desert. However, she also feels that she is in the last stage of a long and difficult journey and is hopeful: “It is gratifying to believe that you can achieve your goals, because that is the most important thing: protecting our lives.” Get asylum, you deserve it Money and see if we can protect the lives of our families.” He not only wants the care, but also the opportunity to process his asylum application and start working. “If you ask me what I need right now, it’s not food or blankets. “It’s just that they’re getting us out of here,” he says.
Translation by Emma Reverter.
(Taken from El Diario.es)