PIEDRAS NEGRAS, MEXICO — Migrants are rushing to cross the southern border into Texas before a state law allowing police to arrest anyone suspected of illegally crossing the border takes effect in the new year.
Tens of thousands of people wait at the US-Mexico border each day – overwhelming border patrol agents and local authorities – and the numbers are expected to rise as migrants rush to meet the March deadline. , when officers can begin enforcing Texas law.
“We need to get to the United States quickly,” Fernando Valencia, a 36-year-old Venezuelan truck driver, told The Post in Mexico on Thursday.
“With the new laws in Texas, we have a better chance of entering the United States now than if we waited.”
Valencia was part of a group of migrants headed to a shelter in Piedras Negras, a four-hour walk from where they were in Nava, Coahuila.
“We came to the border as soon as we found out about the new law,” he said. “We had a place to stay in Mexico but we needed to leave.”
Fernando Valencia and Oswaldo Rivera (right) took a freight train as close as they could to the US-Mexico border before being forced off by Mexican officials as they headed to the United States. Jack Morfet
The proposal was signed into law Monday by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and will allow any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people they believe entered the United States illegally. Once arrested and taken into custody, migrants will receive a court order to leave the country or face prosecution for misdemeanor illegal entry offenses, which include jail time or a fine of up to $2,000. If they don’t comply, they could be arrested again for serious crimes.
The law will take effect on March 1, 2024, but will likely face legal challenges since immigration law enforcement is within federal jurisdiction, not at the state level. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas plans to challenge the measure, as well as more than 20 congressional Democrats.
Abbott said he hopes the law could reduce the number of people crossing illegally into the United States through Texas by “more than 50%, maybe 75%.”
Many migrants are crossing into the Lone Star State by swimming or wading the Rio Grande, as noted by The Post on Dec. 21, 2023. GO NAKAMURA U.S.-bound migrants say they are racing against the clock as A new Texas law would allow state agents to arrest anyone suspected of entering the United States illegally and will take effect in March. LET’S GO NAKAMURA
Many migrants are crossing the Lone Star State by swimming or wading in the Rio Grande.
The Post saw a group of about 30 men, women and children wading through the waters beneath the Camino Real International Bridge Thursday morning.
A young Venezuelan said he was headed to New York with his sister, his aunt and his cousin, where another cousin currently lives.
“I’m excited to go to New York,” said Alexander Mendez, 23. “I’ve been traveling for two months. “I want to explore New York, work and have a better life.”
Several of the asylum seekers The Post spoke to said they hoped to reach the Big Apple, where most said a family member already lived.
Migrants walk along the riverbank looking for an opening in the fence after crossing the Rio Grande in an attempt to enter the U.S. on Dec. 21, 2023. GO NAKAMURA Several of the asylum seekers the Post said they hoped to achieve this. to the Big Apple, where most said a family member already lived. LET’S GO NAKAMURA
As three young Guatemalans took off their shoes and socks on the riverbank, a loudspeaker on the American side broadcast a looped message in Spanish: “Attention, attention. It’s illegal to cross here. This area is secured with wire and there is no entrance. Go to the bridge. It’s illegal to cross here. Stay in Mexico.”
But stretches of barbed wire-covered walls have been compromised and Border Patrol agents struggled to keep up with repairs. About every 100 meters, rugs and blankets cover sections of the sharp wire where the migrants climbed.
“My brother has been in New York for two years. “We are all going to New York,” said one of the Guatemalans.
John Rodríguez, 20, arrived in Piedras Negras on Wednesday afternoon after three months of walking and cycling from Venezuela. He stopped to rest at the Casa del Migrante migrant shelter before planning to cross the Rio Grande near the Eagle Pass international bridges on Thursday.
“I have been traveling for three months. Just walking and biking,” she told The Post through a translator. “I traveled through Venezuela, Colombia, El Salvador, Panama, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and now Mexico.”
Rodriguez hopes to get a bus ticket to Maine, where his brother lives, if he makes it across the border.
He said he got an appointment regarding his immigration status, but it won’t be for two months, so he will apply for asylum once he crosses the border.
“There are no opportunities in Venezuela. It is not dangerous, but the economy is bad,” she stated.
“I’m waiting for more family to arrive here. By the grace of God, I will cross [the Rio Grande] tomorrow,” Rodríguez said. “First I need to rest. “I have been traveling non-stop for three months.”
Migrants from Venezuela walk towards the Rio Grande to cross from Mexico to the United States Piedras Negras, Mexico, on December 21, 2023. GO NAKAMURA A migrant holds a small child as the two cross the Rio Grande towards the border with the United States on December 21, 2023. GO NAKAMURA
A migrant walked with his 4-year-old son on his shoulders and his wife at his side.
The 23-year-old father, Jean Valiente, said he has his sights set on New York because of what he has seen of the city on television and TikTok.
“There are more opportunities in big cities like New York,” Valiente told The Post. “I have a cousin in New York. crossed the [US southern] border six months ago.”
Customs and Border Protection agents encountered a record 12,600 migrants in 24 hours on Monday.
The Post saw a group of about 30 men, women and children wading through the waters beneath the Camino Real International Bridge Thursday morning. LET’S GO NAKAMURA
Hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers arrive at the border every month. In August, more than 304,000 immigrants attempted to enter the United States, in September they increased to 341,000 and in October 310,000 were registered.
And last month, the U.S. immigration court reached a historic backlog of more than three million pending cases, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearing House (TRAC).
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Source: vtt.edu.vn