Worried migrants delay border crossing as activists protest outside U.S. embassy

Record ID: 1122762

  • Title: Worried migrants delay border crossing as activists protest outside U.S. embassy
  • Date: 21st June 2018
  • Summary: OAXACA, OAXACA STATE, MEXICO (JUNE 21, 2018) (REUTERS) MIGRANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN SHELTER KITCHEN GIRL PLAYING WITH BABY GIRL GIVING STUFFED TOY TO BABY BABY WALKING WITH STUFFED TOY HONDURAN MOTHER, CANDIDA MEJIA, WITH HER DAUGHTER IN ROOM AT SHELTER MEJIA FOLDING COMFORTER STUFFED TOYS ON BED IN ROOM MEJIA AND HER DAUGHTER WALKING OUT OF ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CANDIDA MEJIA, HONDURAN MIGRANT TRAVELLING WITH HER DAUGHTER, SAYING: "We didn't leave our country because we wanted to. We leave our families, our mother, our sisters and everything in search of something better, because in our countries there are not the opportunities that exist in the United States and that is why we take the risk in going but what they are doing is very wrong because many of us are taking a leap of faith when we do this because they say that it is okay, that there are no problems, that one can go to the United States, but then one starts to think: that instead of going forward, we have to go back." GUATEMALAN MIGRANT, MARIA TERESA ESCOBEDO, TRAVELLING WITH HER DAUGHTER, IN GARDEN OF SHELTER ESCOBEDO'S DAUGHTER ESCOBEDO AND HER DAUGHTER IN GARDEN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MARIA TERESA ESCOBEDO, GUATEMALAN MIGRANT TRAVELLING WITH HER DAUGHTER, SAYING: "Pretty bad because imagine that one's faith is to arrive in the United States and not be separated from their children and right now my brother tells me that they are in fact separating the children, so I told him that for that fate, I'm better off returning because it is not fair for them to take your children from you." ESCOBEDO WITH HER DAUGHTER MOTHER AND BABY IN GARDEN OF SHELTER ESCOBEDO DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MARIA TERESA ESCOBEDO, GUATEMALAN MIGRANT TRAVELLING WITH HER DAUGHTER, SAYING: "I won't continue because it would be ugly if my daughter, after being with me so much time, we finally get there and they separate her from me-- no. I prefer to stay here and work." FATHER FERNANDO CRUZ MONTES, PRIEST WHO RUNS SHELTER, SHOWING MURAL INSIDE SHELTER MURAL INSIDE SHELTER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FATHER FERNANDO CRUZ MONTES, PRIEST IN CHARGE OF SHELTER, SAYING: "I believe it was only because of the pressure that has been on him. Donald Trump has no heart and he does not care about human beings. He cares about his power and then he only looks out for his interests along with those of some others, but I think that he did it only because of the pressure on him from all the organisations, associations, countries, even the Pope himself condemned this attitude." MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JUNE 21, 2018) (REUTERS) CHILDREN STANDING IN CAGE DURING PROTEST OUTSIDE U.S. EMBASSY CHILDREN IN CAGE HANDCUFFS BEING PUT ON CHILD CHILD INSIDE CAGE PARTICIPATING IN PERFORMANCE PROTEST OUTSIDE EMBASSY PROTESTERS CARRYING POSTERS AND SIGNS OUTSIDE EMBASSY POSTER THAT READS 'MOTHERS FOR THE FAMILY UNIT' (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MONICA, PROTESTER, SAYING: "It's important not just to stop separating families but to reunite the children who have already been separated back with their families. We cannot stop protesting until all the children who were separated are back with their mothers and fathers." CHAINED CHILD IN CAGE U.S. FLAG OUTSIDE EMBASSY
  • Embargoed: 5th July 2018 23:40
  • Keywords: Central America shelter U.S. embassy separations President Donald Trump migrants zero tolerance Mexico Mexico City Oaxaca protest
  • Location: MEXICO CITY AND OAXACA, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY AND OAXACA, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0018L98093
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Central American migrants travelling north through Mexico are considering their passage towards the U.S. border, hoping for the controversy surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy to subside and for the status of those separated families to become clear.
    Many of those migrants in the Mexican state of Oaxaca are young families from countries like Guatemala and Honduras. With swaths of the region ravaged by drug and gang violence as well as rampant poverty, they have taken a gamble on the American dream.
    These migrants had hoped to get a job in the United States and send money back home, but after seeing news reports of wailing children in cages, they are considering staying on longer in Mexico.
    A rebound in the number of Central American migrants - most fleeing incessant gang violence in their impoverished homelands - being detained on the southern border prompted the Trump administration to implement the zero tolerance policy.
    But on Wednesday (June 20), Trump backed down and abandoned his policy of separating immigrant children from their parents on the U.S.-Mexico border after it sparked outrage at home and abroad.
    However, questions still remain on how these minors will be reunited with their parents held in federal jails in the U.S. following Trump's decree.
    In Mexico City, hundreds gathered outside the U.S. Embassy to denounce Trump's stance on migrants, demanding separated families to be reunited.
    U.S. Customs and Border Protection said on Tuesday (June 19) that 2,342 children had been separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border between May 5 and June 9.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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