Nearly 3,000 migrants cleared out of camp in Reynosa
A migrant camp set up in Reynosa more than a year ago has been cleared out. It was a temporary home to nearly 3,000 asylum seekers.
A Salvadorian migrant, who spoke to Channel 5 News on the condition of anonymity, said officials told her they would take other measures if she didn’t immediately leave the camp. The Salvadorian woman, who’s seeking asylum in the U.S., said she was only able to take a suitcase with the little clothes she had.
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The migrants were moved to another camp several miles west of downtown.
The leader of a local church in Reynosa says she's outraged.
“What are you going to tell your child after you made it a home and then you take them somewhere else?” said Liliana Carlos, Pastor of Monte Horeb. “You don't have a blanket, you don't have something to cover you. You don't have nothing. This is very sad."
Reynosa Mayor Carlos Peña Ortiz cited safety reasons as a contributing factor to moving the migrants out of the plaza.
“At the new migrant camp, they will have that,” Ortiz said. “They'll have better security, better health conditions. That would help us, at least, bring down our COVID numbers."
Ortiz thanked U.S. Customs and Border Protection for allowing the fast processing of asylum claims. This comes as a group of mostly men was sent back to Mexico under Title 42 on Tuesday.
Like most migrants on the border, those forced to leave the camp have a past they're fleeing from.
"Criminals killed my son," said the Salvadorian woman in Spanish. "They threatened to kill us if we didn't leave our home back in El Salvador."
Ortiz says his city is ready to receive more migrants with or without Title 42.
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