Pregnant Honduran migrant in limbo in Mexico after rethinking American dream under Trump

Record ID: 451608

  • Title: Pregnant Honduran migrant in limbo in Mexico after rethinking American dream under Trump
  • Date: 14th March 2017
  • Summary: CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO (MARCH 13, 2017) (REUTERS) CHILD OF HONDURAN MIGRANTS SEEKING TO CROSS INTO THE US FROM MEXICO, WITH SOCCER BALL HONDURAN MIGRANT, LUIS ORLANDO RUBI, TALKING TO HIS CHILD PREGNANT HONDURAN MIGRANT, ANA LIZETH BONILLA FAMILY OF MIGRANTS PLAYING WITH SOCCER BALL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HONDURAN MIGRANT, LUIS ORLANDO RUBI, SAYING: "My plan was to cross into the United States so as to give a better life to my child and wife. I did this without knowing of the arrival of my other child who was on her way. I didn't know that my wife was pregnant again." EXTERIOR OF HEALTH CLINIC BONILLA WAITING AT HEALTH CLINIC BONILLA WITH DOCTOR DOCTOR EXAMINING BONILLA BONILLA DURING EXAMINATION VARIOUS OF DOCTOR EXAMINING BONILLA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PREGNANT HONDURAN MIGRANT, ANA LIZETH BONILLA, SAYING: "He (Trump) has practically ruined our lives, to be honest. We had plans to cross into the United States but we have given up on that idea." BONILLA WITH WOMAN AND CARRYING HER SON CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO (MARCH 12, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF CIUDAD JUAREZ MIGRANT SHELTER MIGRANTS ON SIDE OF ROAD BONILLA'S SON AT SHELTER HITTING PINATA MORE OF MIGRANTS VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS IN SHELTER CELEBRATING BONILLA'S SON'S BIRTHDAY MURAL AT SHELTER THAT READS "NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL" CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO (MARCH 13, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRIEST, JAVIER CALVILLO, SAYING: "The experience from Ciudad Juarez is that immigration from Central America continues to be the same as last year. It continues to be the same. The majority want to stay here (in Mexico), to find another opportunity or to see what happens at the border. But immigration from Central America is the same, they continue to arrive on these two fronts." MIGRANT IN SHELTER MIGRANTS PLAYING POOL IN SHELTER BONILLA'S SON ON HIS MUM'S LAP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PREGNANT HONDURAN MIGRANT, ANA LIZETH BONILLA, SAYING: "We could not fulfil our dream but to those people who are there, God help them because it is very difficult for a mother to be separated from her children. So from one mother to another, they need put themselves in the place of the women who are on the other side (of the border)." BONILLA LOOKING AT FAMILY FAMILY OF MIGRANTS
  • Embargoed: 28th March 2017 23:21
  • Keywords: migrants Mexico pregnant woman border USA Ciudad Juarez Central America Honduras
  • Location: CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
  • City: CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00167XMTL3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A pregnant Honduran migrant and her family has been left in in limbo in northern Mexico after rethinking her American dream under the hardline policies of President Donald Trump.
    Ana Lizeth Bonilla, her husband and two-year-old son left violence-ravaged Honduras some nine months ago and headed overland towards the United States for a better life. Their original plan was to cross into El Paso, Texas, via the land border with Mexico but the stories of hardship from undocumented migrants in the United States has prompted a change of heart. Her experience being deterred crossing into the United States illegally is of a piece with U.S. stats showing a decrease in migrants coming over. Migrants' advocates along the border, however, note no major change in migration flows since Trump took office in January.
    Complicating matters for Bonilla is her surprise pregnancy.
    "My plan was to cross into the United States so as to give a better life to my child and wife. I did this without knowing of the arrival of my other child who was on her way. I didn't know that my wife was pregnant again," said Bonilla's husband Luis Orlando Rubi.
    Bonilla has settled into a migrant shelter in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. There the expectant mother has received medical treatment and the young family is eagerly expecting the arrival of their daughter.
    Bonilla told Reuters they have all but given up hopes of crossing into the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump, whose crackdown on undocumented migrants has expedited deportations and separated migrant parents from US-born children.
    "He (Trump) has practically ruined our lives, to be honest. We had plans to cross into the United States but we have given up on that idea," added Bonilla.
    Earlier this month, the Trump administration reported its hard line on undocumented immigration was working after the number of people caught along the southwest United States border fell significantly last month.
    But Javier Calvillo, a Mexican priest who works in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, told Reuters that the numbers of Central American migrants heading to Mexico's northern border area remains the same.
    "The experience from Ciudad Juarez is that immigration from Central America continues to be the same as last year. It continues to be the same. The majority want to stay here (in Mexico), to find another opportunity or to see what happens at the border. But immigration from Central America is the same, they continue to arrive on these two fronts," said Calvillo.
    For many migrants who had sought their own American dream are now considering their options in Mexico.
    In assessing her family's future, Bonilla noted the trauma of families who get separated on the border.
    "We could not fulfil our dream but to those people who are there, God help them because it is very difficult for a mother to be separated from her children. So from one mother to another, they need put themselves in the place of the women who are on the other side (of the border)," said Bonilla.
    The US President has vowed to make it tougher for migrants seeking to cross into the United States by building a border wall. He has also expanded the authority of immigration agents and pledged to hire more to better secure the country's border.
    However, the tough talk has riled Mexico. Plans to deport migrants back to Mexico regardless of their nationality attracted sharp criticism from Mexico City.
    Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray has said the country will not accept Trump's immigration plans and vowed to take the matter to the United Nations to defend the rights of immigrants in the US.
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