Independent journalist Auden Cabello is documenting the reality at the southern border and the journey that immigrants take to reach the United States. He shared migrant testimonies with Voz Media confirming the severity of the border crisis that is being experienced in states like Texas and Arizona.
Cabello explained that the overwhelming situation at the border crossings due to the large daily influx of immigrants exhausts and exceeds the capacity of the number of Border Patrol agents working in those areas.
Likewise, Cabello commented that according to the migrants, many are helped by Mexican law enforcement officials, who give them coordinates to reach shelters, charging them money or taking their belongings in exchange for this illegal service:
Previously, migrants came to the city of black stones and immediately crossed the river, and these are groups of 2,000 - 3,000. I have had to be there, and that is when the press documented it, and I think it looks very bad for the authorities of both countries [Mexico and the United States]. But what the Mexican authorities do is make it so the migrants get off before reaching the city of black stones and control the flow and at the same time they guide them and give them coordinates on how to get to the shelters to cross and take the opportunity to remove any thing of value. We already have several migrants who have given us their testimony that it is the same authorities who do this and take the opportunity to take away their belongings.
In this sense, he assured that one of the biggest "complaints" he hears from migrants is the "abuses" they suffer from the authorities in Mexico:
One of the biggest complaints... A high percentage of migrants say it is Mexico, they complain about Mexico because of corruption ... there is a lot of talk about cartels or organized crime, but they complain about the authorities ... The abuses of corrupt officials.
The journalist revealed that "there are many organizations that are financing" migrant journeys. Some of them are NGOs, such as UNHCR and the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (COMAR). Thanks to them, these migrants have been able to move and arrive in the United States.
The influence of the Biden administration’s passivity is fundamental. Cabello assured that migrants think that "the border is open" due to the open door policy employed by the federal government.
Watch the full interview here:
