The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Children on the border with the USA: "I want to be with my mom"

2021-04-29T16:31:11.923Z


Thousands of unaccompanied minors from Latin America are currently trying to come to the United States - many want to see their parents. But the dream often bursts at the last minute. Two children talk about their journey.


Enlarge image

This mother from Nicaragua tries to emigrate to the USA with her daughter.

They made it to Texas - many get stuck in Mexico.

Photo: John Moore / Getty Images

It's a sad place, one where children's dreams are shattered.

The Noemi Alvarez Quillay accommodation for unaccompanied minor migrants is located in downtown Ciudad Juárez, near the border with the USA, an inconspicuous, flat concrete building with barred windows.

More than 100 children and young people between the ages of 3 and 16 are currently waiting here.

Many of them are already parents in the United States.

The crisis on the Mexican-American border has worsened over the past few months.

Hundreds of children from Latin America currently arrive in Mexico every day.

In March alone, the US Border Guard picked up 19,000 unaccompanied minors on American soil - more than ever before in a month.

The reception camps in the USA are overcrowded.

But those who make it across the border at least have the hope of a new life: Unaccompanied minors are currently not being deported immediately by the US.

Enlarge image

Migrants from Central America cross the Rio Grande to get to the United States from Mexico

Photo: Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu / Getty Images

It looks different when children are with their parents

to arrive in the US.

Then the family is often transported back to Mexico within a few hours as part of an epidemic protection ordinance issued under ex-President Donald Trump - without being able to apply for asylum.

As a result, many parents now separate from their children at the border and send them off on their own.

But even that is not a guarantee: If the children are caught by emergency services on the Mexican side - this often happens at the last minute, just before the destination - they end up in this accommodation in Ciudad Juárez, among other places.

Most of the children here are now waiting to be deported back to their homeland.

Enlarge image

A boy from Central America jumps across a watercourse on the Rio Grande on the Mexican-American border in Ciudad Juarez

Photo: Luis Torres / Agencia EFE / imago images

"They are very strong.

They are not aware of the dangerous journey they have undertaken, «says Claudia Villalobos, psychologist at the property.

In a way, this protects the children from trauma.

“What really worries them is the fact that the chance passed, they didn't make it.

You feel like a failure. "

Months can pass before the children are deported, during which time they are not allowed to leave the premises and are not allowed to go to school.

There are offers such as painting, chess games, sports, an inner courtyard and a TV room where you can watch "The Lion King", for example.

The children sleep in bunk beds.

The toilets in the accommodation cannot be locked from the inside to prevent suicides.

SPIEGEL employee Luis Chaparro was able to speak to children in the accommodation.

Here two of them tell their story from their point of view.

Their experiences are similar to the experiences that many refugees and migrants have.

We have changed their names to protect the children, the real names are known to the editors.

Enlarge image

Children play in the courtyard of the Noemi Alvarez Quillay property in Ciudad Juarez

Photo: JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ / REUTERS

"I thought I was going to die," Juliana Fernandez, 10, from Honduras

“I miss my mom. She went to the United States five years ago and works as a maid in a hotel in Kansas City. She wanted to catch up with me a short time later. But then she told me on the phone that it was not a good time for my trip because of the president at the time. I then stayed with my father in Honduras. But he got worse and worse, he came home drunk every day. We argued because he kept the money my mom sent for me.

I called my mom in January and told her everything.

She said I should come to her.

Then one day my aunt came and told me it was time to go.

I took a backpack with a couple of clothes.

My aunt and I joined a caravan.

That was maybe 300 people.

We walked across the border into Mexico.

In Mexico we had to ride in the trunk of cars.

Once we were in a big truck with a lot of other people and I was terrified.

I felt like I couldn't breathe.

I thought I was going to die.

My aunt took me to the city of Puebla, from where she wanted to travel back.

I miss her.

I don't know where she is now.

I traveled on with other families to the border in Ciudad Juárez.

(Editor's note: The distance from Puebla to Ciudad Juárez is around 2,000 kilometers.)

Then a man told me to walk across the river bed and then to contact the US border police.

But when I left, a policeman stopped me, and then I was brought here.

I can talk to my mom on the phone once a week.

I called her when I got here.

She was happy because she thought I was in the USA.

Then she was very sad when I told her I couldn't do it.

She cried.

My case is very difficult, say the lawyers.

I have to wait now to see what will be decided, whether I can see my mom.

I know this former President Donald Trump hated migrants and built a wall, but he's gone now.

I could go to school and learn English in the US and I would definitely make friends there.

I can't go home, I don't miss my home.

I want to be with my mom. "

Enlarge image

An unaccompanied migrant minor playing sports at the Noemi Alvarez Quillay accommodation in Ciudad Juárez

Photo: JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ / REUTERS

"I'm ashamed because I didn't make it," José Lopez, 14, from Guatemala

“I left because I wanted to help my family.

We come from a poor village in Guatemala.

We grew corn and coffee, but two hurricanes destroyed all of our crops.

My dad is too old to work.

My mother is ill.

My dream was to help them because I am the oldest.

After the hurricanes we had to beg.

Then we decided as a family that I should go to the USA to work.

I don't know how much money my parents paid the smugglers.

But it must have been a lot, because we sold our land.

In February, a man from the village told us it was a good time to go because there was a new President in the United States who had opened the doors for all of us.

The man took my father and me to the Guatemalan-Mexican border, and we continued by bus.

Another man received us in the city of San Luis Potosí.

We had a code word.

But it was wrong.

So we had to pay the man again and were given a new code word.

The smugglers told us it would be better if my father stayed there and I went on alone.

If the police arrested me alone, they would not send me back, but they would send me back together with my father.

We waited a couple of days.

The smugglers said it was our choice, but we'd be wasting a lot of money if my father came with us.

Enlarge image

Children play chess in the courtyard of the Noemi Alvarez Quillay property in Ciudad Juarez

Photo: Luis Chaparro

So I went alone.

We said goodbye and my dad told me to take care of myself and give him a call when I got to the US.

I didn't feel good about it.

I tried to think of the United States.

My plan was to work on a construction site in Virginia.

Then I could have sent money home.

The smuggler and I continued on different buses. They said if anyone asks me I should say the smuggler was my uncle. In Ciudad Juarez I was put in a trunk. I was afraid. I know that many migrants are kidnapped and killed in Mexico. I was taken to a house with many people where we stayed for about a week, after which we were in a hotel room.

Then one day the smuggler said that the time had come.

He took a girl and me and took us to the limit.

We tried to run over, but Mexican soldiers stopped us.

That was the worst moment because I knew I had now wasted all of my family's money and would come back with nothing.

I miss my father and mother, but I am very ashamed because I didn't make it.

Enlarge image

Bedroom in the accommodation for unaccompanied minor migrants

Photo: JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ / REUTERS

I don't know what's going to happen to me now.

Either my father picks me up here or I have to wait for them to take me back to Guatemala by plane.

I talk to my mother on the phone once a week.

We don't know where my father is and we can't reach him.

Maybe he doesn't have a phone anymore.

I don't think I can try again.

It costs a lot.

Where should we get the money from?

I've heard that the new president in the US is supposed to be good to migrants.

But I don't know if that's true.

Is that correct?"

This contribution is part of the Global Society project

Expand areaWhat is the Global Society project?

Under the title Global Society, reporters from

Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe

report on injustices in a globalized world, socio-political challenges and sustainable development.

The reports, analyzes, photo series, videos and podcasts appear in the international section of SPIEGEL.

The project is long-term and will be supported for three years by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

A detailed FAQ with questions and answers about the project can be found here.

AreaWhat does the funding look like in concrete terms?

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is supporting the project for three years with a total of around 2.3 million euros.

Are the journalistic content independent of the foundation?

Yes.

The editorial content is created without the influence of the Gates Foundation.

Do other media have similar projects?

Yes.

Big European media like "The Guardian" and "El País" have set up similar sections on their news sites with "Global Development" and "Planeta Futuro" with the support of the Gates Foundation.

Have there already been similar projects at SPIEGEL?

In recent years, SPIEGEL has already implemented two projects with the European Journalism Center (EJC) and the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The "Expedition The Day After Tomorrow" on global sustainability goals and the journalistic refugee project "The New Arrivals", as part of this several award-winning multimedia reports on the topics of migration and flight have been produced.

Where can I find all publications on global society?

The pieces can be found at SPIEGEL on the topic Global Society.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-04-29

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.