'Don't risk your lives': Wave of solidarity helps migrants at the US border

Table of Contents

It was one of his key election commitments, and he has stuck to it. US President Donald Trump took less than 24 hours to go ahead with the first forced removals of migrants.

Months after he got back to the White House and gave the green light to the new rules, more than 4,745 people have been sent back to their countries. As a result, there have been about 8,000 arrests made across the US.

The US President has made his stance clear: his government opposes illegal immigration so that people who have followed the proper channels and entered the country lawfully are given preference.

The issue of unlawful immigration isn't a recent one. Obama sent back approximately 3 million migrants, while George W Bush deported 2 million. Trump also removed 1.19 million migrants during his four-year term as president.

Around 11 million of the estimated 340 million people living in the US are thought to be residing illegally, according to the American Community Survey.

Border chaos in the United States and Mexico

Plural of people who have been kicked out are causing a bit of a ruckus at the border. Mexico has sent in 10,000 blokes to have a gander and whip things back into shape. The Yanks have also chucked in some of their troops to help sort it out.

The wall has been strengthened with even more barbed wire, and thousands of people trying to get into the free country are now stuck in limbo with no clear way out.

"They're stuck. A lot of people are in limbo because they've got no immigration paperwork, no dough, no work and they're clueless about the city," said Gladys Cañas, the president of the Association Help Us Succeed, which gives out humanitarian aid to migrants on the border in Tamaulipas.

Even in the toughest of situations, hope still exists, and thousands of people gather on the other side of the wall, holding onto the dream of getting into the US.

"Don't risk your lives," Cañas warns a mob makin' plans to swim across the Rio Bravo river, which splits the two countries, where at least 1,107 migrants have gone under since 2017.

'Their frustration keeps growing'

The only thing that's obvious to them is that they have got to get their future sorted, something they can't manage to do where they are from, she said.

With a fatigued voice and tearful eyes, a young unidentified migrant tells us at the border that he wants to "keep going for as long as I can, till another opportunity arises, and get a job (in the US)".

He's not the only one who's having a crack at getting into the country. "I'd love to get a job here, live here ... buy a place to call my own," says another.

Their upfront expectations come unstuck on stark realities.

You hear desperate pleas and people crying out in anguish every day. The situation they're stuck with on the border of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, is heartbreaking. They've basically got no safety net or alternative plan.

Cañas now dedicates her life to helping people and organises supplies and humanitarian aid deliveries. "We bring 'em food, water, toiletries, doonas and anythin' else that could help 'em live with dignity on them international bridges."