El Paso, Texas — Three Venezuelan immigrants who entered the United States illegally lived miserably during their first days in Texas, sleeping on the streets in the rain and trying to scrape together enough money to find another job. endured.
Ana Gabriela Garcia, her husband, and travel companion Edgar Rodriguez have been out of state for the first week after admitting to risking and illegally crossing the border when Title 42 was suddenly extended. talked about in detail.
“We came through the gates of the border wall illegally,” Garcia told the Post in an interview at a church in El Paso on Thursday. You have to make sacrifices.”
The three migrants, whom the Post first met in Juarez, Mexico, on Tuesday, were in the thousands waiting to legally enter the United States at the Mexican border when Title 42 was supposed to end on Dec. 21. I was among people.
Instead, the federal policy that had allowed U.S. Border Patrol to keep out asylum-seeking immigrants like Venezuelans was extended. The extension meant that immigrants from Venezuela could still be kicked out of the US and sent back to Mexico.
The three had to make a decision — wait until June for a U.S. court to make a decision about Title 42’s future or whether to enter the U.S. illegally now. They argued that waiting in Mexico was not an option.
Wednesday night, the trio sneaked into America.
Speaking in El Paso on Thursday, Garcia said he wants to work to pay back the money he has left behind in Venezuela for his three daughters, ages 2, 6 and 9.
“We thought … we might get deported while traveling, but we have to,” said an immigrant mother. “It wasn’t easy, so we decided to make sacrifices for them so they wouldn’t have to go through this.
“Santa didn’t come this year. The girls are terrified of what we left behind.”
The three have saved $50 to increase their bus fare to Dallas or Denver. Their illegal status means they cannot legally travel by plane or bus.
“I have work waiting for me in Denver, and I just wish I could get there,” Garcia said.
Garcia suffered bruises on his leg as he walked from Venezuela to the United States for weeks, crossing the infamously deadly Darien Gap and several countries to reach the U.S.-Mexico border.
Travel companion Rodriguez said he was attacked by monkeys in the jungle and would do anything to take care of them.
“He fell out of a tree while we were sleeping and aimed at my leg,” Rodriguez said.
El Paso Deputy Mayor Mario D’Agostino predicts that the number of illegal immigrants in El Paso will only increase as the U.S. Supreme Court holds Title 42. The city has funds to house legally recognized asylum seekers, but illegal immigrants like Garcia, her husband, and Rodriguez have nowhere to go.
Immigrants who have not been vetted by federal authorities are now beginning to sleep on the streets of downtown El Paso, mingling with legal immigrants in the cold and kept warm only by blankets.
On Thursday night, Garcia, her husband, and Rodriguez slept in the cold street in the rain.
“If they continue to invade unnoticed, the population will continue to grow within this community,” says D’Agostino.
Only Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have the legal authority to detain these illegal immigrants, he said.
“We are in touch with all our partners, our federal partners. At the end of the day, it’s a process that everyone has to follow and we need to make this sustainable for everyone. It’s from.”
Border Patrol agents told The Post they were aware of the situation, citing the arrest of an illegal immigrant on a commercial bus north of El Paso.
of 60 illegal immigrants They boarded three buses and mixed with legal immigrants until they were stopped at a border patrol checkpoint north of El Paso where the vehicles were inspected.
Illegal immigrants were sorted out and detained, according to border guard officials.
Additional reporting by David Meyer
