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News > Country

Migrants Block The Matamoros-Brownsville Bridge at US Border

  • Migrants wait outside the Puente Nuevo border station in Matamoros, Mexico, Oct. 19, 2019.

    Migrants wait outside the Puente Nuevo border station in Matamoros, Mexico, Oct. 19, 2019. | Photo: EFE

Published 10 October 2019
Opinion

Migrants decided to camp near the international crossing to draw attention to their desperate situation.

Hundreds of migrants on Thursday blocked the New International Bridge in Matamoros, a Mexican border city that is located near Brownsville (Texas), demanding that the United States authorities respond to their asylum applications.

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After waiting for more than six months for a response to their requests, the migrants decided to camp near the international crossing to draw attention to their desperate situation.

While some of the asylum seekers managed to get an interview to define their immigration status, most migrants only obtained a rescheduling of their appointment.

The Tamaulipeco Institute for Migrants spokesperson Enrique Cervantes explained that the bridge closure came after over 300 migrants attempted to cross into the United States.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)​​​​​​ reported that traffic on the Brownsville-Matamoros International Bridge has stopped since 1h30 local time.

Since October 2018 there has been a sharp increase in the flow of migrants, mostly Central Americans, who try to reach the other side of the Rio Grande.

Early June, the U.S. and Mexico reached an immigration agreement whereby President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and his administration promised to send the National Guard to the Mexican northern and southern borders.

Over the last months, the migratory flow to the U.S. decreased by 60 percent as a result of that decision, which was taken to avoid the increase of U.S. tariffs on Mexican products.

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