Final Stop: From the Border to NYC

NEW YORK — Spectrum News has brought you complete coverage of the migrant crisis on both sides of the southern border. Those stories include the massive arrival of migrants, Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, President Joe Biden’s visit to El Paso and the end of Title 42. Thanks to these stories, we have been able to learn about the situation that many migrants experience from the moment they arrive at the border until some are accepted into the country. But what happens once these migrants board a bus or plane bound for other cities in the country's interior, such as New York? What are their lives like now that they have reached their final destination? Are they really living the American dream? Spectrum News reporter Luis Garcia chronicled the journey of a Venezuelan family that arrived at El Paso and now lives in New York. In Midtown Manhattan, the Venezuelan consulate is closed because of political differences between the two countries. Still, thousands of Venezuelan families are in the U.S. A few miles away, in the Bronx, the Reyes family from Venezuela recently enjoyed a walk through the neighborhood. “I’ve been here for two months now — well, a month and a half. But thank God we are already here,” Joel Reyes said. This is the life Reyes envisioned for his wife and three children as he led them through a long, exhausting and painful journey. Tired of the life conditions in Venezuela, Joel, his wife Michelle Hernández and their children left their country on Sept. 20, 2022. They left with a group of 4,000 people, with whom they crossed the Darién Gap, a dangerous and sometimes deadly jungle. They crossed six Central American countries and traveled all over Mexico on the top of a train to get to Ciudad Juárez. They arrived when Gov. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border initiative had already begun. A barrier made of razor was guarded by Texas National Guard troopers. They didn’t make it in time to freely cross the Rio Grande and be processed at the Border Patrol temporary processing center that had been built right on the wall. They didn’t arrive in time to be taken to the city of El Paso’s welcoming center. They didn’t arrive in time to board one of the many free buses provided by the City of El Paso bound for Chicago or New York. They arrived months later, and because of this, they had to wait on the Mexican side of the border for months. On March 12, hundreds of migrants attempted to storm the Paso Del Norte International Bridge into downtown El Paso, reportedly because of a rumor posted on social media that U.S. immigration authorities were going to let them through. Despite wanting the rumors to be true, Joel and Michelle stayed back. “I knew it and that is why I did not seek to go because that was a lie and that is what brings us problems, especially if we are in a foreign country. We have to avoid problems and what they did was, as they say, add fuel to the fire. That is why I say that the Americans are upset with us,” Hernández said. But that wasn’t the only false rumor. At the beginning of 2023, there was another one that Hernández believed. “That on the other side there were buses to go directly to Canada. I turned myself in to the Border Patrol but it was a lie,” she said. “I believed it because I no longer want to be here. I came for a better future for my children and it was a lie. What they did was deport me back to Mexico.” “I thank God that my wife has already crossed. She turned herself and cross,” Reyes said. In April, Hernández turned herself in to Border Patrol agents again. This time because other migrants told her that U.S. immigration authorities were accepting single women with children. Reyes stayed in Ciudad Juárez. Hernández and her children were processed in EL Paso, then flown to Laredo. “When she called me, it was the best joy I ever had. I would rather my children be on the other side than with me here struggling like I am doing,” Reyes said. Hernández and her children were sent from Laredo to San Antonio, where they boarded a bus that took them to New York City. Meanwhile, Reyes was still in Ciudad Juárez looking for a way to cross to be with his family. “I passed illegal yesterday and here I am. I’m already in El Paso, Texas,” he said. After several days, Reyes managed to cross into the United States, where he spent a couple of days camping with other migrants outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso. He managed to get enough money together to buy a bus ticket to New York, where he was reunited with his family. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.