The migrant crisis at America's southern border with Mexico has become an intractable malaise as the U.S. elections approach in November, while the authorities and migrants are playing cat and mouse in blockading and breaking siege at the treacherous and insidious borderline.
Amid the ongoing migration crisis, a key issue in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, the United States and Mexico released a joint statement last month, directing their national security teams to collaborate on implementing measures to curb irregular border crossings. Consequently, Mexican authorities have adopted a hardline stance, intensifying security measures along crucial routes leading to the border.
The Sonora Desert in Northern Mexico represents the final stretch for migrants striving to reach the U.S. border. However, scattered along this sole 360-kilometer highway are Mexican patrols and checkpoints designed to stop them, creating a tense game of cat and mouse.
Neyany Silva and her group have made it a third of the journey, navigating extreme terrain to avoid highway checkpoints.
"We have to hide, walk through the desert, run if they spot us, and come back to the road where they can't see us. There are animals, broken glass and it's dangerous, especially at night," said Neyany Silva, a Venezuelan migrant.
Catching rides along this stretch of highway is a daunting task, as local Mexicans fear being accused of human smuggling. Even if they manage to board a bus, there are no guarantees of reaching the border city of Ciudad Juarez.
Forty-two kilometers from Ciudad Juarez, the Precos checkpoint is where Mexican authorities search vehicles for undocumented migrants, seeking to detain them before they cross into the United States.
For those caught, it means being transported all the way back to Mexico's southern border with Guatemala - a journey that had taken Neyany and her children two months to cover.
"Getting sent back is a disaster, it cancels out all the effort made just getting this far. They send us back, but then they let us go and try again, that's the game they're playing," said Silva.
At the end of the trial lies Ciudad Juarez and the U.S. border. Migrants like Oliver Perez have made it, but it nearly cost him his life.
"We had lost hope, our water and food ran out, and there's nothing but desert out there. If I had gone alone, I would have died in the attempt, but my children gave me the strength to continue," said Oliver Perez, another Venezuelan migrant.
Reaching the Rio Grande, Oliver has succeeded where many fail, but the final five-meter-tall border wall still stands in his way.
"It's nearly a dream come true: we can see the U.S., but we're still in Mexico," said Perez.
Those who make it to Ciudad Juarez and the U.S. border face another watershed decision - wait indefinitely for an asylum appointment at the port of entry, or attempt to cross illegally into America.
Migrant crisis at US border with Mexico harasses American elections
Migrant crisis at US border with Mexico harasses American elections
