Migrants risk their lives in the dunes of the Chihuahua Desert, on the northern border of Mexico, which has become a popular route in the middle of summer and with record temperatures above 40 degrees, to avoid the increasing operations of the Mexican and US governments.
One of the migrants captured by EFE cameras as they left the dunes before crossing the Sierra de Samalayuca shared that their goal is to overcome one of the most difficult stretches of the migration route, the final 50 kilometers before reaching the border with the United States.
“We crossed the desert because of immigration, because they stopped us, we don’t have a Mexican permit. Thank God, I had a bit of resistance and the water and everything,” said Giovanni Alpizar, who did not want to reveal his nationality and crossed an 8-kilometer stretch of dunes with two other companions in temperatures of 41 degrees.
With this route, the 32-year-old migrant hoped to evade a roadblock of military personnel and agents from the National Institute of Migration (INM) located 50 kilometers south of Ciudad Juárez, on the border with the US city of El Paso.
Migrants take risks to cross from Mexico to the US
The developments come following a more than 70% drop in daily migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border since the peak last December, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said last month.
In addition, irregular migration intercepted by Mexico rose by nearly 650% year-on-year to a record of nearly 1.4 million from January to May, the National Migration Institute (INM) reported in June.
Father Juan Carlos López, spokesman for the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez, said that authorities from both countries should coordinate humane operations to prevent migrants from taking these types of risks, especially now with the summer and the flooding of the Rio Bravo (or Grande) on the border with sudden rains.
“It is sad to see people, human beings, ultimately brothers and sisters because of our human condition, dying in these circumstances, whether in the desert or in the river, it is very regrettable,” said the priest.
The most dangerous border in the world
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) declared the border between Mexico and the United States last September as “the most dangerous land migration route in the world,” with more than 686 migrants dead or missing in 2022.
The priest asked the “authorities, both on the Mexican and North American sides, to organize projects” and campaigns to prevent the deaths of migrants.
“We have had rain in nearby areas and that has increased the flow of the Rio Grande, making it more dangerous and yet they dare to risk losing their lives. The heat in our area is very strong so in the desert that is risking your life,” he said.
A report by U.S. authorities indicated that in the first three weeks of June alone, a total of 25 migrants died in the desert from dehydration or drowning while trying to cross the Rio Grande, while another 35 were rescued from such dangers.
Mexico / EFE
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2024-07-10 02:04:34
