US agents detain migrants outdoors and without food meters from the Rio Grande

The US National Guard is holding Venezuelan migrants who crossed the Rio Grande border (Rio Grande in the US) in northern Mexico, leaving them with limited water rations and no food for almost a day, migrants and activists reported this Monday in the Mexican city of Matamoros, state of Tamaulipas.

The migrant, who returned for food to the Mexican side, where he was interviewed by EFE, reported that this was the case of a group of 15 Venezuelan migrants, seven adults and eight children, who crossed the Rio Grande through Matamoros, Tamaulipas.

Upon reaching US territory they were intercepted by the National Guard of that country, who prevented them from continuing beyond the barbed wire fence, a few meters from the river, the natural border between both countries.

In addition, he said, they were left out in the open, without food and with reduced supplies of water for almost a full day.

A tent with canvas and plastic

The families arrived in the United States, crossing the flow of the Rio Grande on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. local time.

From that time until Monday afternoon they were still at the site, enduring the high temperatures of the region and forced to improvise a tent with tarps and plastic scattered around the place, without the North American authorities speeding up the process to remove them from that place. area, Venezuelan José Márquez told EFE.

The asylum seekers asked their compatriots and inhabitants of the camp, set up on the banks of the Rio Grande on the Mexican side, to give them food and liquids because they had no supplies.

After almost a day, agents of the US forces provided them with some apples and bottles of water, but in a minimal quantity, while on the Tamaulipas side some people left them sweet breads and a gallon of water for them to consume. , while they waited to be taken to the corresponding authorities.

The Venezuelan migrants denounced violation of their human rights, while a member of the US National Guard explained to the foreigners that they would not be allowed to advance and even emphasized that they could stay in that place as long as they wanted, but there was no way to receive them and They would be guarding them.

“There is a violation of their human rights because they do not bring food, they do not bring water to continue waiting for so long,” denounced the president of the organization Helping them Triunfar, Gladys Cañas.

Entering the US in this way is not correct

The activist recognized that entering the United States in this way is not the right thing to do; However, people must be granted assistance and avoid this type of abuse that harms them due to the risk to which they are exposed.

Cañas pointed out that, despite the implementation of CBP One, an application to receive an appointment with US immigration authorities, there are migrants who choose to achieve the “American dream” by swimming through the river.

This is because, in their opinion, there are cases in which officials allow them to stay in that country after assessing their circumstances.

The activist estimated that in the border municipality of Matamoros there are around 4,000 asylum seekers, but the number could increase in the coming weeks because in southern Mexico there are a greater number of people heading to this region.

Cindy Granado, a resident of the camp on the border of Mexico and the United States, witnessed what her compatriots were suffering, since she lives in front of the point where the incident occurred, and confirmed how since Sunday night they kept her compatriots in less than optimal circumstances.

“This is what it entails, because the desperation of not having anything to eat, the heat here, the children crying, we become desperate and what we want is to cross,” he said.

She mentioned that she has been waiting for more than a month to get an appointment to begin her process, but like a large part of the applicants, she has not been able to do so, which keeps her in uncertainty and desperation. With EFE

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