Posted on 02/10/2019 5:06:51 PM PST by CedarDave
CIENEGA GRANDE, Guatemala Martina Alvarez sat at a wooden table in her small tortilla shop and lamented the exodus of families from Guatemala headed for the United States, including some of her own relatives.
They left eight days ago, Alvarez said. They said they are going to turn themselves in to immigration authorities there, to ask for help.
Deep poverty and violence including extortion by street gangs, impunity and government corruption are real factors influencing Guatemalans to migrate.
But these days there is another driving force: smugglers actively promoting their services with the promise that parents who make it across the border will be allowed to stay in the U.S. New Mexicos Bootheel has become one of the newest routes used by coyotes taking people to the U.S. border. Since Oct. 27, large groups totaling more than 5,370 people have arrived in Antelope Wells. Most are parents with children, or minors traveling alone from Guatemala, according to Border Patrol.
Nobody leaves because they think its going to be easy, said Luis Argueta, a Guatemalan filmmaker who has produced documentaries exploring migration issues.
Spurred by smugglers, Guatemalans who may have contemplated leaving for the U.S. see this as their moment.
It is a fact if you arrive at the border with an underage child your chances of being admitted temporarily are very high, Argueta said.
With limited family detention space and a ban on keeping children locked up for more than 20 days, smuggling organizations peddling the American Dream dangle the ultimate reward for migrants who ask for asylum at the border.
Central Americans with children are released, often with ankle tracking devices, and though most wont be granted asylum, a backlog in cases means they can stay in the U.S. until a judge decides their case.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
NM list PING!
I may not PING for all New Mexico articles. To see New Mexico articles by topic click here: New Mexico Topics
To see NM articles by keyword, click here: New Mexico Keywords
To see the NM Message Page, click here: New Mexico Messages
(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for FR member use; its use in the News Forum should not be for trivial or inconsequential posts. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
(For ABQ Journal articles requiring a subscription, scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the article for free after answering a question or watching a short video commercial.)
What has Guatemala been doing with all of the foreign aid we have given them for years?
Trump is right; they are not “sending us their best”. Seems like the dumbest of the dumb are the ones getting it into their pumpkin heads to violate our federal laws, aided and abetted by coyotes and others who will make money off this. And our government, especially the libtards, are their opposite number, matching dumb for dumb in allowing them in.
>Trump is right; they are not sending us their best. Seems like the >dumbest of the dumb are the ones getting it into their pumpkin heads >to violate our federal law
They are all dumb. Just the nature of those people.
“Foreign aide is the taking of money from poor people in rich countries and giving it to rich people in poor countries’’. I’m sure you can draw the answer to your question.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.