The Step.
After ending a long wait that for some lasted up to two years living in hostels in Mexico, 25 asylum seekers under the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) entered the United States at the Santa Fe International Crossroads in El Paso, a border town in the state of Texas.
Mostly adults but also about 10 children crossed the bridge one by one accompanied by staff from the Mexican Migration Institute and representatives of the United Nations (UN), which in turn handed them over to the custodians of the United States Immigration and Customs for after being quickly processed and driven to two trucks waiting for them from the American side.
Under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations supported the US Government in Mexican territory in the matter of logistics, transfers, ordering of documents, and covid-19 tests necessary for the admission of applicants to the United States.
“There are no words, the joy of the day, starting with them in the morning and seeing them right now as they have crossed is a great honor,” said Melissa Lopez, executive director of Diocesan Services for Migrants and Refugees, who was part of the organizers of the move.
Vulnerability in their countries of origin such as Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela, among others, caused the migration to finally cross from Ciudad Juárez to Chihuahua (Mexico) to a refuge of the American band that is administered by Casa Anunciación, an organization that offers hospitality to immigrants and refugees since 1978 in West Texas.
Of the approximately 69,000 asylum seekers who entered the program where they pledged to remain in Mexico to later seek entry into the United States, only about 25,000 people would have remained on the Mexican side of the border. others would have returned to their home countries, mainly out of desperation caused by the pause of proceedings and the closure of government offices due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And they are the ones who in small groups have begun to enter the country, first by the border between Tijuana and San Ysidro, then by Matamoros and Brownsville, to finally give way to income through Juárez and El Paso.
“These people were not in custody; these people have already been prosecuted more than once,” said Linda Rivas of the Americas. Migrant Support Center.
According to IOM, crossings of refugee migrants under the MPP will continue in the Pas area next Monday, March 1, and the number of refugees received by the United States each day will gradually increase.
“We know that the groups start with 25 people, we know that they will increase and we are ready for that. We hope that it will be soon because people can no longer wait in these very difficult conditions and with a lot of suffering,” added Rivas.
The associations involved in this early reception to immigrants who remained in Mexico while meeting the requirements of the US authorities they held the event and named this February 26, 2021 as a historic day for the country and the West Texas region.
“We are slowly restoring asylum in the United States,” said Rivas, who highlighted the dignity with which migrants were received with a quick process and thus be able to move to the hostel where they will be treated the greatest possible comforts before embarking on a new journey to the localities where their relatives await them.