“There is a kind of despair” : migrants en route to the United States via Mexico fear arriving after January 20, the day of the inauguration of Donald Trump who promised to toughen his migration policy.
Ces migrants “wonder what will happen to them”continues Yusmelis Villalobos, a 47-year-old Venezuelan woman met in Tapachula, in the south of the country, near the border with Guatemala.
Yusmelis Villalobos is waiting with hundreds of others for a pass from the Mexican authorities to continue his journey to the United States border.
The Venezuelan obtained an appointment on January 23 for an asylum application in the United States via the CBP One application of the American Customs and Border Service.
Donald Trump has promised to get rid of CBP One after his inauguration on January 20, in order to stem what he describes as a « invasion » of migrants on American territory.
Dayana Hernandez, another 36-year-old Venezuelan, also obtained a CBP One appointment for January 29, nine days after Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“We are really concerned, so many things are being said and it’s no secret that when Donald Trump says these kinds of things, he does them”declares this thirty-year-old to AFP.
Also awaiting safe conduct from the Mexican authorities, she begged the American president-elect to allow her the possibility of entering the United States, once he came to power.
“May he let us move forward. Just as there are bad people, there are good people like us who want to work.”she implores.
“We’ll see at the border”
Anaís Rojas, a 20-year-old Venezuelan woman traveling with her young son, is also worried. His appointment made using CPB One is set for January 23.
“We saw that the meeting was scheduled (for the 23rd), but we still don’t know what will happen. We will be at the border on the 20th, so we will see”she said while waiting for the document from the Mexican authorities to continue her journey towards the border city of Tijuana.
She claims to have no resentment towards the next president of the United States and even hopes for a rebound in the American economy after his return to the White House.
“If the economy is better, that benefits us too”she says.
These hundreds of migrants who managed to obtain an appointment on the CBP One application were waiting on January 14, 2025 in front of a Mexican immigration office in Tapachula.
Others, desperate not to get an appointment and fearing insecurity and extortion, have chosen to join the migrant caravans that have left Tapachula in recent weeks.
The Biden administration introduced the CBP One app in January 2023 in an effort to order the flow of migrants into the United States and reduce the opportunity for smugglers to exploit migrants.
Although the application does not guarantee that migrants like Dayana Hernandez and Yusmelis Villalobos can stay in the United States, it allows them to obtain a work permit while they process with the American authorities.
With AFP
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