2023-05-02 11:49:30
- The man was reported missing on Sunday, April 30 | Photo: EFE
The body of a Venezuelan migrant, who was trying to reach the United States by swimming, was found in the Rio Grande by the Mexican authorities in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, after his disappearance was reported last Sunday when he jumped into the flow with a group of foreigners.
A few days after the expiration of Title 42 in the United States, a mechanism that has allowed the return to Mexico of thousands of South and Central Americans who have entered their territory irregularly, asylum seekers desperately seek to cross the border.
This is with the objective of turning themselves in to the Border Patrol in an effort to continue their process in that nation, although many are returned.
The deceased migrant was identified as Víctor Andrés Lugones Cespedes, originally from Maracaibo, Venezuela, who jumped into the water along with some compatriots who did manage to reach the other shore, but were detained and released after hours by the Puente Nuevo de Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
What we wanted was to cross because on that side (the United States) they supposedly receive us, process us and leave us inside,” one of his friends told EFE, who identified him to national officials.
The man, who asked not to disclose his name, reported that they entered the water early in the day, but when he was already on North American soil, he only heard that someone was asking for help, but he did not imagine that it was his companion being met on the road.
dangerous despair
When the report was given, personnel from the National Institute of Migration (INM), Grupo Beta and the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office (FGJT), arrived at the site to begin the investigation and remove the body of the Venezuelan who had just reached the northern border. mexicana and in a matter of hours found death.
“We had never reached a northeast border and as soon as we arrived, what we wanted was to know where the river was to cross,” said his friend.
In previous days, thousands of migrants, mainly Venezuelans, entered the Rio Grande to try to cross it in inflatables in an attempt to find a way to stay in the United States and continue their migration processes in that country and not in Mexico.
Uncertainty
Asylum seekers continue to register on the CBP One app, but the puzzle they now have is what will happen when Title 42 ends and Title 8 takes effect, in which the United States is expected to toughen penalties against those who enter. irregularly.
“We do not meet because we want to, but because we are after a dream. It is unfortunate today that our young Venezuelan comrade found death looking for a dream”, said the Venezuelan, Anyoni Torres.
Border activists are already preparing through lawyers to learn about the actions that the Joe Biden administration will apply after May 11 against applicants who arrive in the territory by other means, such as swimming through the Rio Grande.
This situation occurs shortly after a month after the fire at a migration station in Ciudad Juárez that left 40 dead and reflects the problems that Mexico is facing with a record migratory flow, with 147,000 undocumented immigrants detected in the country from January to August, three times as many 2020.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador revealed that he will meet on May 2 with the White House adviser for National Security, Elizabeth Sherwood, and assured that his government will carry out a review of immigration policy with a human dimension.
With information from EFE
Related news
#Venezuelan #drowned #river #north #Mexico #attempt #reach #Diario