Recently, Fox News reported that immigration from Central America to the United States is skyrocketing. According to reports, the constantly deteriorating safety in these small Latino countries has families running for their lives- and they are all running North into the USA. Some of these immigrants hitch a ride on a moving cargo train, hiding inside until the locomotive makes it across the border. The journey north is not normally an easy one for these people. One report says that hundreds of Latinos rest at shelters where they are crammed to the maximum capacity, and the sleep on cardboard, using trash bags as blankets.
One man interviewed by Fox News says that he was deported to Honduras after a run-in with the law in LA. However, the prevalence of drugs in Honduras has led to a spike in crime, and this sent the young man running back to America for a life of safety. He told reports that there is a lot of violence in the area, and he watched three customers shot in his own shoe store by robbers last March. Honduras has the world’s highest homicide rate, with 6,200 killings per year. When averaged out, the numbers show that 82.1 out of each 100,000 residents in Honduras will be murdered. El Salvador also has a high murder rate, with 66 homicides per 100,000 people each year. To compare, the homicide rate in the U.S. is only 5 per 100,000 people.
The number of Mexicans travelling to America has dropped dramatically, but the amount of Central Americans who are coming up has risen drastically. The Central American migrants normally have to travel 1000 miles to head to the border. While Mexican drug cartels are the main reason for their mass escape from the southern countries, they are also encouraged to immigrate due to an easing in enforcement by Mexican authorities.
As well, the many immigrants say that Mexican criminal gangs are not preying on migrants as much as they have in the past. This means that they are able to travel safely through Mexico without as much fear that they will be apprehended. Because of the perils of the journey north, some smuggling agencies are charging as much as $7,000 per person to head up to the border. The men and women who are smuggled are then detained until they can pay the smuggling fees once inside the US. While some Mexican immigrants have admitted that they can’t afford to live in America and have moved back to Mexico, the Central Americans are desperate for safety. Fox News reports that about 56,300 non-Mexican migrants were detained by the U.S. Border Patrol between October 2011 and May 2012.
However, the amount of immigrants that are coming through to the U.S. from Mexico has decreased by 7 percent. The flee back to their homeland started when the U.S. economy started to worsen, making it harder to survive in America on a small income. The Pew Hispanic Center shows that more Hispanics from Mexico have left the U.S. to return home than have immigrated into the U.S. illegally. Yet the Central Americans keep coming and coming. Some Mexican Catholic churches are trying to act as refuges for the pilgrims, but find that they are running out of room and resources to do so.
The Central Americans who choose to wander towards America are undertaking a brave endeavor. They often have to bribe immigration officials, police, and railroad employees for help. Also, they have to cross territory held by the Zetas gang. This Mexican gang has a tendency to kidnap migrants and hold them for ransom or forced labor as they trek upwards towards America. If you are a Central American immigrant who made it to the United States, you want to do everything you can to protect your residency here. Talk to an immigration lawyer today for more information about how to do this.