More than 4,000 immigrants have been deported from the US this year as Trump intensifies his crackdown with mass deportations. In response, aid groups are helping undocumented migrants at border crossings.
It was one of his big campaign promises and he has kept it. US President Donald Trump took less than 24 hours to approve the first deportations of migrants. Two weeks have passed since his return to the White House and the signing of executive orders, in this time, more than 4,745 people have been deported. In addition, there have been some 8,000 arrests across the US.
Trump has made it clear that his administration is against illegal immigration in order to favour those who enter the country legally.
But illegal immigration isn’t a new issue. Obama expelled nearly 3 million migrants, George W. Bush deported 2 million, whilst Trump expelled 1.19 million migrants during his four years as president.
The number of people living illegally in the United States is 11 million according to the American Community Survey, out of an estimated population of 340 million.
Chaos at the US/ Mexico border
Beyond those who have been expelled, there has been chaos at the border. Mexico has deployed 10,000 troops in the area. The US has also sent in the army. The wall has been reinforced with more barbed wire, and thousands of migrants hoping to enter the land of the free are now in legal limbo with no apparent solution.
Gladys Cañas, president of the Asociación Ayúdanos a Triunfar, which provides humanitarian assistance to migrants on the border of Tamaulipas, Mexico, with the United States says, “They don’t know what to do. Many people are in limbo because they have no immigration documents, no money, no jobs, and they don’t know the city,”.
Yet even in the face of desperation, hope persists and thousands of people crowd the other side of the wall with the dream of gaining access to the United States. “Don’t risk your lives,” Gladys tells a group planning to swim across the Rio Bravo river that separates the two countries where at least 1,107 migrants have drowned since 2017.
‘Their frustration keeps growing’
“Their sadness, their despair, their frustration keeps growing.” Gladys tells us, a witness every day to the pain of these people who no longer even know what to do. The only thing that is clear to them is that they need to improve their future, something they cannot achieve in their countries of origin.
With a tired voice and a twinkle in his eye, a young anonymous immigrant assures us at the border that he wants to “I want to fight for as long as I can, until another door or window opens, and work here”. He is not the only one who refuses to give up on his idea of entering the country, “I would like to work here, live here… buy a house to live here”, says another.
But their optimistic dreams contrast with harsh scenes of disillusionment.
Gladys explains, “Every day you hear desperate cries, people crying? The situation they find themselves in on this border of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, is one of tears… They don’t really have a plan B,”.
She now dedicates her life to helping these people and organises deliveries of supplies and humanitarian assistance. “We bring them food, water, toiletries, quilts and anything else that could help them to be in dignity on both international bridges.”
Gladys’ story is just one example of the many cases of solidarity that are taking place. Numerous NGOs and associations are helping migrants these days who, it seems, will not have a good future on the other side of the border.
