Immigration officials see drastic rise in number of Africans illegally crossing US-Mexican border
By Madeleine Rivera
Fox News
6/12/2019
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Valerie and her son took a walk around this city’s downtown area on Monday after spending three months on a treacherous trek from Brazil, through Central America to Texas.
Valerie, a Congolese woman, fled her war-torn country with her family and is now trying to create a new life here.
“We left the Congo because there weren’t any resources for us…my son has really liked it here. I’ve liked it here, as well. It’s for this reason I’ve come here to figure out my life, to improve my life,” she said in French.
Valerie is one of hundreds of African migrants who arrived in San Antonio last week. City leaders said they weren’t given a heads up and quickly scrambled to accommodate them and quickly recruit several French-speaking volunteers who could serve as translators.
“The City of San Antonio has received more than 200 individuals, mostly families and children. The families were released by the United States Customs and Border Patrol into the country with paperwork directing them to Portland, Maine,” said Interim Assistant City Manager Dr. Colleen Bridger.
The majority of them stayed at Travis Park Church, which regularly hosts asylum seekers.
“I’m not necessarily surprised…we react to changes on the border every day, we just had to figure out that process it didn’t really shake us up too much,” said Gavin Rogers, associate pastor.
It’s not just Congolese migrants arriving in alarming numbers. Border Patrol agents reported arresting more than 500 people from Africa since May 30. The group included nationals from Angola, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
While Border Patrol has previously seen migrants from Africa, this is the first time they have seen such a large group crossing together.
“It really has been a bit of an anomaly for us,” said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul Ortiz. “I think most of them, you know, obviously are flying to different locations. And then, when they find themselves congregating in a location then they start to formulate a plan just south of the U.S. Mexican border here.”
For years, people from the Congo and neighboring countries have fled to escape political instability and violence. According to the UN Refugee Agency, 4.5 million people from the DRC have been displaced. But the numbers seem to be increasing and officials in border towns are struggling to keep up.
“Some [refugees] may have been traveling for months to get to the Mexico border in search of better opportunities that the U.S. has to offer, the human rights that the U.S. has to offer,” Bonita Sharma, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s College of Public Policy, told The Rivard Report.
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