Page 2 - aruba-today-20220714

A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 14 July 2022
Asylum wait lists at U.S. border frustrate, confuse migrants

By ELLIOT SPAGAT of Texas' Strauss Center tal-
Associated Press lied 27,135 names on wait-
PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico ing lists in eight Mexico bor-
(AP) — Opaque waiting der cities in May — before
lists at the Mexico border Al Otro Lado's soared to
to gain a chance at ob- about 50,000 by late June.
taining asylum in the United An orderly system will be
States have persisted under critical if Title 42 ends, and
President Joe Biden, lead- CBP is exploring an online
ing many migrants to give platform.
up and cross illegally or lan- In Piedras Negras, Isis Peña,
guish for months in border 45, of Honduras registered
towns. on Casa del Migrante's
U.S. preparations in late short-lived waiting list on
April to end pandemic- April 29. When she came
related limits on asylum led for her interview five days
to the latest round of regis- later, she was told open-
tering names. In Tijuana, an ings to claim asylum were
online registry run by advo- no longer available. "We
cacy group Al Otro Lado wanted someone to give
soared to about 50,000. In us hope," said Peña, who
Piedras Negras, a migrant later crossed illegally to
services center's list bal- Eagle Pass with her 19- and
looned to 2,000 before be- 20-year-old sons and was
ing halted. expelled under Title 42.
Waiting lists were widely Peña — whose family is now
used under former Presi- homeless and scrounging
dent Donald Trump to deal for food — latches on to
with an increase in migrants frequent, unfounded ru-
from Mexico and Central mors that the Biden admin-
America coming to the istration is about to open
border, starting with large the border.
caravans in 2018. Circum- "The information is very
stances are different now, complicated, and the
but the process is similarly ways to access the system
confusing. Migrants often are very complicated," said
don't know how to sign up Edgar Rodriguez, Casa del
or that lists even exist. On May 21, 2022, a migrant displays an appointment slip to be interviewed at Casa del Migrante Migrante's legal advisor.
migrant services center on May 7, 2022 for possible entry to the United States. The interview was
The latest chaotic episodes canceled after overwhelming demand. A lack of shelters means
come as a spike in border Associated Press many of the roughly 300
crossings has become a po- largely Honduran migrants
litical flashpoint for Biden, in Mexico — but the criteria along the border under authority in place after it who line up for takeout hot
with Republicans saying is vague and mysterious for Trump's administration. In was due to expire on May breakfasts six mornings a
he's not doing enough many. Ciudad Juarez, across from 23. week at Casa del Migrante
to stop them. At a meet- Nongovernmental organi- El Paso, Texas, a migrant The U.S. grants some ex- sleep outside.
ing with Biden in Washing- zations play a "critical role," shelter registered asylum- emptions to Title 42, but the As a group of women wait-
ton on Tuesday, Mexican helping select migrants seekers by writing numbers rule has been unevenly en- ed for food in June, one
President Andres Manuel and communicating with on their arms with black ink. forced by nationality, with joyfully shared a text mes-
López Obrador spoke of U.S. authorities, CBP Com- After widespread criticism, single adults and families sage from an Al Otro Lado
challenges that were bru- missioner Chris Magnus said migrants instead were giv- from Mexico, Guatemala, attorney: "Congratulations!
tally underscored by 53 mi- in a recent interview. en numbered plastic wrist- Honduras and El Salvador You have been approved
grants who died last month "Is it a perfect system? bands, some of which were most affected. for humanitarian parole." It
after being abandoned in Certainly not, but that has sold or given away. The U.S. accepted an av- included instructions to re-
a sweltering tractor-trailer been a very important part In San Luis Rio Colorado, erage of 423 migrants a port to the Eagle Pass bor-
in San Antonio. of the equation, these rela- near Yuma, Arizona, an day at official crossings in der crossing the next day at
U.S. Customs and Border tionships," Magnus said. asylum-seeker who man- May, 308 in March and 418 5 a.m.
Protection began taking When U.S. authorities told aged a list picked a suc- in February, according to Kenia Carcamo, who was
70 asylum-seekers a day a small shelter in Ciudad cessor when his number court filings. April's daily av- expelled from Eagle Pass
in San Diego in late April Acuña that they wanted 26 came up. erage of 1,614 was inflated under Title 42, never heard
— half chosen by Al Otro families at the border cross- In Piedras Negras, the city by a temporary increase of the list.
Lado, which prioritizes how ing with Del Rio, Texas, false government named the from Ukraine. "It's a lucky roulette," Car-
long migrants have waited, word spread that Magaly owner of a local steak- Migrants getting picked camo said.
and half by Border Angels, Pérez, director of the San house to oversee its list. from Al Otro Lado's list typi- Joan Leiva, a gay man who
which selected from Tijua- Antonio Community Cen- The Biden administration cally registered a year ago, fled persecution in Hondu-
na migrant shelters. ter, was managing a list. maintained Trump's poli- Soraya Vazquez, deputy di- ras, enrolled with Al Otro
The Biden administration "The next day we had 100 cy of denying migrants a rector of advocacy for the Lado in May and slept in a
says it prioritizes the most people at the door," Pérez chance to seek asylum group's office in Tijuana, park in Ciudad Acuña until
"vulnerable" — which may said. "The day after that we on grounds of preventing said. The group also works police kicked out migrants.
include LGTBQ migrants, had 300 people. It spun out spread of COVID-19, and remotely with migrants in "We are adrift," Leiva, 31,
those with severe medical of control." a federal judge's order has Piedras Negras and other said. "We don't know where
conditions or those facing Haphazard, often-dubious kept the pandemic-related select other border cities. to go to ask for information.
imminent physical danger arrangements popped up authority known as Title 42 A survey by the University No one tells us."q