Axios
Border visit illustrates the reality of migrant crisis in debilitating detail
At night, parents with young children march through the brush after crossing the Rio Grande River in pitch black. During the day, unaccompanied children arrive at shelters, in one case 17 or 17 who tested positive for COVID-19. The news is: Axios last week accompanied a delegation of Republican lawmakers to South Texas – followed by a unilateral visit to El Paso – to see in real time the challenges fueled by an increase in the border, the consequences of the actions of the previous government and the backward reaction by the new. Keep up to date with the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. What we saw left abandoned devices on every shore of the Rio Grande between Mission, Texas and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Smugglers and U.S. border agents lurk across the river late at night through nightglasses. A bright light lifts a smuggler across the Rio Grande River and stares back at the delegation and border agents through their own night-vision goggles. Photo: Stef Kight / Axios Just down the road, hundreds of migrating parents and children who have recently arrived are sitting in the ground at a temporary processing center under the Anzalduas International Bridge in McAllen, Texas. They were recorded with orange safety net and provided with Little Hug fruit barrels and water. On a hot afternoon in El Paso, migrating adults and families march in one file across the bridge to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico – without any chance of asylum. under an order of the Trump era held by President Biden. Just that morning, a dozen single men walked across the same bridge in the opposite direction after waiting two years under the so-called Remain in Mexico program. A woman and young boy are deported to Juarez, Mexico, at the end of a long line of single adults. Photo: Russell Contreras / Axios Between the lines: The visit illustrates the complexity of the country’s migrant crisis in heartbreaking details – a reality that goes far beyond the political sounds that drive the national conversation. In March, the US experienced the highest number. Border crossing in 15 years, in addition to the record number of minor minors. Congress Democrats knew that a comprehensive immigration reform was a long shot, but hoping to rather pave paths to citizenship for dreamers and essential workers. During the congress trip, Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee largely spoke with law enforcement officials in South Texas, emphasizing the record levels of migration in the area. They heard of overwhelming and disgruntled border officials in the Rio Grande Valley. area and state troops who talked about taking down drug smugglers and traffickers ndon Judd, president of a large, conservative Border Patrol Union, aggressively criticized President Biden’s decision to end President Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, saying he would rather see policy changes than more funding. In Donna, Texas, one Rio Grande Valley border official told members. Paws designed to hold 30 to 50 migrants during the pandemic have ten times as many numbers, according to staff and members informed by Axios after their tour inside. Migrant teenage boys get their first health check before going to an already overcrowded Border Patrol Center in Donna, Texas. Photo: Stef Kight / AxiosRep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) described how she saw a 7-year-old girl with a mental retardation detained for more than two weeks. “She had tears in her eyes the whole time,” he told Axios. On the same day, all 17 children who arrived at the Upbring New Hope shelter tested positive for coronavirus, employees said. This is a sign of the additional complications in caring for migrants during a pandemic. Each stop reinforces the talking points of some of President Trump’s strongest defenders in the House, repeated by Fox News and Newsmax during the trip. “chaos” and “catastrophe” were the words of choice. “You can not come to your capital, but anyone and everyone can come to your country,” Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said during a press conference outside the National Border Patrol Board headquarters. Meanwhile, interviews with House Democrats and directors of non-profit organizations on the front lines in El Paso have exposed the human trauma of US policy – and raised questions about its effectiveness. – fueled by rising border numbers, did not end the rapid eviction of families to Mexico and did not acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. Families with young children are getting ready to board a bus at the temporary processing site outside the Anzalduas International Bridge, which will take them to a local charity to help them reach their final destination. Photo: Stef Kight / Axios “I do not understand why they are not transparent,” said Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) told Axios after being asked about the lack of access to media. Axios was not allowed to enter U.S. facilities such as the Donna Temporary Center, entrance gates and a child migrant shelter, despite being invited to join the Republican delegation and requesting directly from the Department of the Interior Safety and the Department of Health and Human Services. admitted to an emergency shelter in a sports complex in Ciudad Juárez run by the Mexican federal government. It opened Monday after more than a dozen other facilities in the area were out of capacity. It has already held about 170 migrants, mostly women and children. One 34-year-old Salvadoran woman walks up to a reporter with a 2-year-old on her hip. She sobs as she describes in Spanish that she is being put on a plane and thinks she will soon be reunited with her husband and her 11-year-old daughter in Georgia – only to hear that she was actually back in Mexico. She received no interview with officials and no explanation as to why she was being evicted. Mexican children look at Sunland Park, NM, from the other side of the boundary wall. They gave Axios permission to take their photo. Photo: Stef Kight / Axios Do you like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.