In the last four days, some 2 thousand migrants have reached the state of Jalisco by taking the western route to Tijuana, where there are already some 4,000 Central Americans who are waiting to seek asylum in the United States.
“The American dream was left behind. Before it was painted a nice color, but now it is not the same and more with all this caravan I hardly think they happen, it is not our dream, “says a Honduran migrant.
Guadalajara, Jalisco, November 20 (EFE) .- Tired and with children on their backs, dozens of Central American laggards from the second migrant caravan, today are faced with the dilemma of forgetting the American dream and seeking refuge in Mexico .
“There are several who already have that idea of asking for asylum, I think they are like 20 percent. Many are tired and do not want to leave , “he told Efe Arturo Marin, the shelter for migrants ” El Refugio “in Tlaquepaque, in the state of Jalisco.
In the last four days, some 2 thousand migrants have reached the state of Jalisco by taking the western route to Tijuana, where there are already some 4,000 Central Americans who are waiting to seek asylum in the United States.
The majority spent at least one night in the Tlaquepaque lodge and took their path to the refusal of the local government to offer them a place to stay as they did with the first caravan that left Honduras a month ago and is already in Tijuana.
Women with their children face the greatest difficulties and are often the last to get transport or are forced to separate from their husband or family.
Kelly Galeano left El Salvador with her family formed by her husband, her 10-year-old daughter, her 18-year-old son, and pregnant daughter-in-law, but in Jalisco, she decided not to follow the caravan after losing the young couple on the way.
“We came from Irapuato (in Guanajuato) on a ride they gave us, but the person who helped us said that we only fit two and we begged him to let my little daughter climb, but the others stayed behind,” he tells Efe .
“The ride is massive and the first to climb are the men, we are the females, more if we walk with children, it is hard for us to climb, when we arrive they have already left because there is no space”, adds the woman with dark circles and tired eyes .
After almost a day without knowing his son and daughter-in-law, they found themselves in “El Refugio” to which the couple came by chance.
Katherine Vázquez, pregnant with six months of pregnancy, and her husband had to sleep on the road because nobody wanted to bring them to the city.
For the 18-year-old, crossing half of Mexico has been “very difficult” because on more than one occasion the grips and the squabbles over how to move have hit her belly.
“It costs a lot to be able to advance, it costs with the men, mainly because they do not leave it to one. They say that first women and children and men are the ones who get on and one has to see that they do not hit, “he says.
The experience has quenched the desire of this family to reach US soil and in the next few hours, they will decide if they stay in Mexico to seek refuge and seek work because returning to their country is not an option.
“If we would go back and give our lives and we fought, that’s why we came, because nothing would happen to our family because of crime, gangs, everything and if we could stay, if they give us the opportunity, because there, we can no longer “He says.
He assures that in his country “there is no work, there is a lot of crime and you can not walk anywhere”.
Brenda Fernandez and her husband, both Hondurans , have decided to stay in Mexico and regularize their immigration status through family ties after their daughter Dafne was born in Chiapas in the early days of the caravan in Mexico.
“We decided to stay here because we were both sick, we did not have the strength to continue and thank God they are going to help us process the papers,” she says.
The couple wants to leave behind the lived experience, settle down in Mexico and find a good job.
“The American dream was left behind. Before it was painted a nice color, but now it is not the same and more with all this of the caravan I hardly think they happen, it is no longer our dream, “he says.
By Mariana González
Source: SinEmbargo
The Mazatlan Post
