MEXICO — “I entered the first time. They caught me,” said a woman whose identity we are protecting for fear of violence. “I tried a second time and they caught me again.”
The Central American woman shared her story of kidnapping, attempted extortion and brazen escape with Spectrum News 1.
After U.S. immigration officials removed the woman the second time for crossing without permission, agents escorted her across an undisclosed U.S. port of entry. That’s where a woman approached the asylum-seeker claiming to work for the same people who helped her illegally cross before. A taxi was called. Shortly after getting in the white-colored Mexican cab, she knew she made a bad move.
“When the cabbie took a route different from where my previous human smugglers helped me, I realized I was in trouble,” the woman said.
Humanitarian groups keeping watching over the current border crisis to see the Biden administration’s move to restart Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), or "Remain in Mexico" as it is widely known, as an inhuman federal immigration policy.
First implemented by former President Donald Trump, MPP requires migrants asking for asylum who entered through Mexico be sent back south of the border until summoned to appear before an U.S. immigration judge. The federal public health Title 42 is another major hurdle currently in place further blocking asylum-seekers access to U.S. immigration courts.
The woman was held for three days before she escaped the second floor of a industrial Mexican warehouse. Her captors made repeated attempts to collect $12,500 in U.S. currency before the escape.
“Because the window was partially broken, I grabbed what I could find, smashed the window and jumped out," she said.
It’s stories like these that have humanitarian workers in distress for people like our interviewee who escaped conflict, famine, violence, corruption and economic inequality in their native countries.
“Both administrations have failed to address the real problem that is right in front of us. This huge humanitarian crisis,” said Jesuit Society member Rev. Louie Hotop.
For now, the asylum-seeker is safe inside a four-walled Mexican shelter. She prays for entry into the U.S. and for her children she left behind with family in Central American
“It's been such a long time since I've been able to see my children. May God place his hand on my son's heart," she said.