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Riot police and members of the Mexican National Guard evicted hundreds of Venezuelan migrants who had been in tents on the banks of the Rio Grande, on the border with the United States, since the end of October. According to the authorities, there was a struggle that left some injured. This operation was carried out two weeks after a US federal judge annulled Title 42, a measure that allowed the immediate expulsion of undocumented migrants.
Some 500 Venezuelan migrants were evicted from a makeshift camp that had been set up more than a month ago on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
The Local Office of the State Population Council reported that only 70 of the evicted agreed to go to two shelters, the rest were distributed in hotels and outdoors in Ciudad Juárez.
As reported by the local press, the reason for the eviction was due to the risk of fire that the State Civil Protection of Mexico had previously warned.
For his part, Héctor Rafael Ortiz, spokesman for the Ciudad Juárez City Council, assured that they proceeded to withdraw the migrants due to the alert of sanitary conditions, the possibility of fire, and even drowning in the mighty Rio Grande.
Due to the decrease in temperatures in the area, which is usual at this time of year, the migrants made bonfires on the river bank to protect themselves from the cold, which created a serious risk, according to the authorities.
During the operation, some people were injured after a struggle broke out between migrants and authorities. Some of the plastic-constructed tents were set on fire in protest.
“They came with a megaphone saying that we had to evict, that we had to leave by force and later they broke down the tents, they broke down the tents of some compañeros,” said Michael, one of the migrants from the South American country.
A representative of the Coordination of the Comprehensive Care Center for Migrants, assured that the authorities offered safe shelters and provisions for the basic needs of migrants, however, many of them resisted for fear of being deported to Venezuela.
Meanwhile, members of the Mexican Red Cross and local firefighters surrounded the site, asking the occupants to leave the riverbank.
“We were in the tent and a man came to tell us to get out, the garbage truck arrived and began to remove the tents. It is something inhuman that they want to remove us, we are not enemies of the United States or Mexico, we are here for a fight, not for pleasure,” said Miguel Moya, one of those affected.
The measures that harm Venezuelan migrants
The camp was installed after the Government of President Joe Biden announced the closure of the border with Mexico for Venezuelans, as a measure to mitigate irregular migration and “relieve pressure on the cities and states that receive these people.”
Ciudad Juárez is one of the five border crossings between Mexico and the United States, which receives Venezuelan migrants who were expelled since October 12 by US authorities.
Fiscal year 2022, which includes the 12 months prior to September 30, left a record in the migratory flow to the United States, with 2.76 million undocumented citizens who crossed the border during this period, as reported by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
According to the same CBP data, more than 150,000 Venezuelans entered the United States illegally through Mexico during this last fiscal year, increasing the migratory flow by 293% compared to 2021.
The repeal of Title 42, a relief for migrants
On November 15, a United States federal judge ruled that Title 42 has been used in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner by the Donald Trump government to block asylum applications.
This mechanism has been used since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a public health order allowing authorities to quickly expel migrants at borders. terrestrial United States.
This measure caused a great uproar among immigrants and has been extended repeatedly, however, with the new order of the federal judge, the Joe Biden government is asked to annul Title 42 as of December 21 at midnight.
Since the measure was announced, US authorities have five weeks to prepare for a possible flood of migrants at their borders, most of them from Latin American countries.
With EFE and local media
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