The change is radical. Just a few weeks ago, the border between Mexico and the United States was littered with small, makeshift installations, set up opposite the border wall. Migrants spent their last nights on Mexican soil there before illegally entering the United States and requesting asylum from the Border Patrol. Now, all that remains are the wide rolls of barbed wire.
“In February, there were still nearly 3,000 people camping here. It’s hard to imagine when there are barely ten of us today.”notes Luis (who does not wish to give his name), a Mexican who has been living since November 2023 in what remains of this camp in the city of Matamoros, in the state of Tamaulipas, on the border with Texas.
For its part, the Beta group – the Mexican agents who patrol the Rio Bravo by boat to rescue migrants – makes the same observation. On Saturday, June 22, their hydrofoil did not slow down once during their daily inspection on this river: “It’s very rare not to come across someone who will risk their life to get to the other side. But since the beginning of June, it seems like the migrants have evaporated. Donald Trump would be happy to see that!”says Saul Villareal, smiling, as he walks this border river for eight years.
Central theme of the American campaign
The American presidential election has, in fact, a direct impact on the departure of migrants, a theme that has become central to the campaign. Reacting to accusations of laxity from the Republican candidate, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on June 4 to close the border as 2,500 people per day cross the border illegally for seven days. A ridiculously low number given the reality on the ground: according to the latest statistics available from the Border Patrol, there were more than 10,000 crossing it illegally every day in December 2023 to request asylum, and more than 5,000 in May.
The border, closed since June 5, has not reopened. To apply for asylum, it is now impossible to go to the border police, under penalty of being sent back to your country and banned from the territory for five years. It is mandatory to go through the system set up by the Biden administration a little over a year ago: a mobile application, CBP One, the acronym for Customs and Border Protection (“Customs and Border Protection”).
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