Immigrant crisis: Extortion, rape, robbery and death

America lives a migration crisis unprecedented, with hundreds of thousands of migrants facing blackmail, rape and robbery on their way north, only to be met once they reach the southern border United States cIt is with the uncertainty of not knowing if they will be able to reach their destination, paralyzed by the increase in restrictions.

In South America, all migration routes pass through The Darién Jungle, the natural border between Colombia and Panama. The journey begins in the Gulf of Urabá, in northwestern Colombia, which has historically been under the control of armed groups and where the presence of the Colombian state is zero.

“It was a porous border, a kind of lawless area where there were different types of trade: at some point guns moved into Darién, then cocaine hydrochloride, and lately we are witnessing a ‘boom’ in migrant trafficking that is starting to strengthen with this deep crisis that exists in Venezuela,” he explains to EFE the professor at Universidad del Norte Luis Fernando Trejos.

Migration through this mountainous jungle is not new, but it began to strengthen in 2019 with consecutive records until more than 500,000 migrants were registered in 2023, according to data from Panamanian authorities.

The phenomenon of migration brings in millions – there are reports of $57 million a year – for criminal groups who charge migrants around $200 to guarantee safe passage through the Darién.

The Darien Jungle It is in many cases a nightmare for the hundreds of migrants who cross it every day and are victims of wild animal attacks, sudden flooding of rivers, sexual rape or attacks by criminals who take away what little they have.

He Missing Migrants Project of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) It reports 42 deaths or disappearances in Darién through early December, although other figures are higher. Last year, the number rose to 141.

“I almost drowned, because there are many people who don’t know how to swim and I tried to help many. I didn’t want anyone to die,” he told EFE. Venezuelan Daniel Cruz in Lajas Blancaswhere one of the immigration stations where migrants are treated is located.

The Panamanian authorities and a dozen international organizations offer travelers health care and food in these centers, in a unique operation on the continent that cost the country the least 70 million dollars.

They also organize bus services that are paid for by the migrants themselves in order to continue north without getting stuck in Panamanian territory, which is a measure repeated by other Central American countries.

Honduras It is a country of migrants and transit. Every day more than 500 citizens go in search of the “American dream”, and this year so far half a million migrants have crossed it, mostly Venezuelans, but also Ecuadorians, Haitians or citizens of Africa or Asia.

Many often face the same problem: lack of money to continue moving forward. Something that leads them to stay overnight in the transit country for weeks or months while they gather enough money, about $45 per person in the case of Honduras, to pay for transportation to the border with Guatemala.

The last frontier
The last of these borders is located in northern Mexico, which receives thousands of migrants every day, who camp out waiting for a chance to enter the United States. Ciudad Juárez has become one of the nerve centers of this exodus, overwhelmed by migratory flows and overburdened municipal services.

He Father Francisco Bueno Guillén, director of the House of Immigrants, One of the largest shelters in the city assures that this was a record year in migration.

“Estimating, I think easily over 100,000 or 105,000 people came to our border to cross,” said the priest to EFE, warning that this number will remain at similar levels in the following years.

Hopeless migrants have less and less faith in the regular process of entering the United States.

Many of those who arrived in May still have not made an appointment through the application (CBP One) that now provides access to the formal immigration process to enter the United States, exacerbating the crisis.

NOW tries to stop the migration flow, but without success. After suspending Title 42 in May, a controversial measure that allowed undocumented migrants to be immediately deported without the possibility of seeking asylum, Joe Biden’s government had the opportunity to impose his own vision of the border.

He restricted access to asylum and channeled it through the CBP One application, threatened to immediately deport those who crossed irregularly and launched a foreign policy strategy to try to force other countries in the region, such as Colombia, Panama or Mexico, to act as a brake. for the movement of migrants.

However, reality prevailed. NOW no”institutional capacity or resources” to deport or detain a large number of people seeking the American dream, he explained to EFE Ariel Ruiz, an analyst at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute.

An example is the resumption of deportation flights to Caracas, which, although important, is not enough: 1 or 2 flights a week with 170 people, compared to an average of more than 20,000 arrests of Venezuelans at the border every month.

In parallel with measures at the border, and with the aim of discouraging overland travel, Washington has promoted “legal routes” to enter the country. The most important is the humanitarian permit for citizens Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti, through which more than 260,000 migrants from these four countries entered this year, according to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

In alliance with other countries and with UNHCR, USA It also launched a “safe mobility” initiative to direct migrants to the refugee program.

However, the plan is failing and, according to the latest figures, less than 10% of the thousands of people who applied were able to claim this protection.