Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 7 November 2019
Migrants live in fear at Mexico-U.S. border as violence flares

Continued from Front child of a Honduran wom-
an whimpering and then
Critics have said the ad- bellowing as O'Connor en-
ministration's policy denies tered. "Silence in the court-
asylum seekers like the Sal- room!" he barked. A guard
vadoran woman fair and escorted the child and his
humane treatment, forcing mother to the hallway.
them to wait in a country The judge questioned the
plagued by drug-fueled two attorneys represent-
violence — illustrated this ing asylum seekers about
week by the slaughter near how long it took them to
the U.S. border of six chil- visit clients in Mexico, not-
dren and three women . All ing infamously long waits
were U.S. citizens living in to cross the border. "Hours,"
Mexico. the judge marveled.
The Trump administration But the judge ruled the Sal-
insists that the program is a vadoran woman and the
safe alternative in collabo- Honduran family were in-
ration with the government eligible for the program be-
of Mexico, even as the cause, in his view, the law
president vows to wage governing asylum seekers
war on drug cartels that only allows it for people
are a dominant presence who present themselves at
in the dangerous border In this Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, photo, Lizbeth poses for a portrait in a relative's home in Tijuana, official border crossings —
cities where migrants are Mexico. not for immigrants like her
forced to wait. Associated Press who entered illegally.
The Department of Home- after days on the run from She said she was kid- who would take possession Customs and Border Pro-
land Security added in a a police officer who de- napped after leaving a of the men, women and tection officials then sent
report last week that the manded sexual acts. Mexican government of- children gathered there. the woman back to Mex-
program is "an indispensa- She never said goodbye to fice on its southern border One wanted to extort ico with a notice telling
ble tool in addressing the her five children — ages 5 with Guatemala after in- money from Lizeth's family. her she had another court
ongoing crisis at the south- to 12 —fearing the officer quiring about getting asy- A second wanted to force date set for Dec. 16, even
ern border and restoring would discover where they lum in Mexico. her into prostitution and she though her case had been
integrity to the immigration lived. The Associated Press She and others were tak- ended up with him before terminated.
system." granted her anonymity en in a minivan to Ciudad her escape this summer The woman's lawyer, Siob-
The woman said in an in- because she fears for her Juarez, on Mexico's bor- to the home of a stranger han Waldron, accused
terview that she fled Santa safety if her identity is re- der with Texas. Captors in who paid for her bus tick- Customs and Border Pro-
Ana, El Salvador, on Jan. 31 vealed. a large room argued over et to her cousin who lives tection of making up the
across the border from San Dec. 16 court date to get
Diego. the woman out of the U.S.
She said she shared her sto- and back to Mexico. Wal-
ry with U.S. authorities after dron said she does not
she walked across the bor- know what will come next
der illegally alone on Sept. for her client.
18 where the wall ends in Ti- Customs and Border Pro-
juana, Mexico, and waited tection did not provide
for an agent to arrest her. answers to emailed ques-
They rejected her pleas tions about the woman's
that it was too dangerous case. But Kathryn Mat-
for her to return to Mexico tingly, a spokeswoman for
to wait for a date in U.S. im- the Justice Department's
migration court for a judge Executive Office for Immi-
to hear her case. gration Review, confirmed
Then, on Oct. 14., she said Wednesday that the Sal-
she was punched and vadoran woman no future
whipped with a belt by as- court dates set.
sailants near her cousin's For now, the Salvadoran
home in a hillside neighbor- woman sleeps on a foam
hood of dirt and concrete mattress in a sparsely fur-
roads and empty, half-built nished one-bedroom
homes occupied by drug home of concrete slabs
addicts and squatters. and plywood walls — still
She still had bruises as scared to leave.
her case was heard last She claimed that U.S. au-
week in San Diego, when thorities told her while she
immigration Judge Lee was in custody that efforts
O'Connor made no secret to remain in the U.S. were
of his disdain for the policy futile.
of keeping asylum seekers "There's nothing you can
waiting in Mexico. do," she said she was told
The scene in the courtroom by one official. "This is not
was chaotic, with the infant your country."q