Migrants Growing Restive on the Border; Cubans Plan a Mass Charge?

Todd Bensman of the Center for Immigration Studies yesterday posted on CIS.org a revealing sketch of what is actually going on on the U.S./Mexico border. It may not be exactly what you thought.

As we reported here on January 4, on Tuesday, December 29, a group of about 400 Cuban migrants attempted to forcibly enter the United States on the Paso del Norte Bridge between Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas. Shouting “Biden! Biden! Biden!” the group struggled with Border Patrol agents in riot gear before being pushed back onto the Mexican side.

No such attempts to enter the U.S. forcibly since have been reported, but Bensman says the Cubans and Central Americans in Mexico have since become more frustrated than ever at being compelled to remain there even after their anticipated deliverer Joe Biden became ensconced in the White House. Some are beginning to talk of another, better planned attempt that’s “not going to be at the bridge this time.”

A Cuban migrant named Victor Manuel told Bensman of a Cuban social media group of 1,300 members and a second one of a thousand Central Americans where such a mass charge is being discussed.

“They don’t want to do anything wrong, but they are tired of being in Mexico,” Manuel said.

As reported here yesterday, border apprehensions are rising, and–contrary to the impression given by Biden’s “Day One” orders–most of those illegals arrested are still being summarily returned to Mexico, either through the pandemic-related instant “Title 42” policy or the MPP (Remain in Mexico). Biden may have ordered a temporary halt to deportations but the Border Patrol agents Bensman talked to say they don’t regard instant “removals” as the same thing as “deportation.” One agent said:

Biden is the president, right . . . but military and homeland security . . . they don’t look at these executive actions as the same thing. We do whatever to protect the homeland. A lot of Trump’s rules are still staying.

(Note: Just an aside about that executive order postponing all deportations: In response to a suit from the state of Texas, a U.S. District Judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking Biden’s order from taking effect for 14 days. So at least for the next two weeks, that’s one Trump rule that will stay.)

On the other side of the border, attitudes are much the same. Bensman spoke with a Mexican immigration officer guarding a gap in the border wall just west of El Paso. Bensman writes, “The Mexican officer explained that nothing has changed on their side either; their orders are to prevent passage.” While he was explaining this, a squad of Mexican national guard carrying M-16 rifles came by with a group of six migrants they’d captured. The guardsmen lined up the migrants against the American wall, took photos, and then drove them into Juarez to be dropped off.

See Bensman’s article for a more in-depth look at border conditions.