Asylum appointments set for the days after Trump’s inauguration cause migrants anxiety

A 36-year-old Venezuelan named Dayana Hernandez made the statement, “It’s no secret that sometimes when Donald Trump says things, he does them.”

Hernandez stated that the situation for Venezuelan migrants has been worsened by Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration in Caracas last week for a hotly contested third term as president.

“We really aren’t sure, whether to turn around or keep moving ahead — we really aren’t sure,” she continued.

A large-scale deportation of migrants has been threatened by Trump, who has called immigrants “poisoning the blood of our country” and said that he will carry it out.

Trump exerted significant pressure on Mexico to stem the influx of Central American migrants during his first term in office, which lasted from 2017 to 2021.

Hernandez pleaded with the president-elect to spare her the disappointment of having her dreams of entering the US dashed.

“Few people are willing to put in the effort required to do a good job,” she remarked.

Hernandez was among hundreds of migrants who had scheduled an appointment through the US government’s CBP One app and were waiting in Tapachula this week for authorization to travel to the border in order to seek asylum.

The possibility of detention by Mexican officials while traveling is high if they do not have a permit.

However, the large numbers of people waiting outside the city’s immigration office are causing problems for Mexican authorities.

Some migrants, fed up with waiting, have braved cold, fatigue, and hunger to embark on foot in caravans from Tapachula in recent weeks.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who pay people smugglers to drive them across Mexico to the United States border each year as they escape poverty and crime.

In an effort to reduce unauthorized immigration, former Democratic president Joe Biden instituted CBP One.

While a work visa is not a guarantee of continued U.S. residency for migrants, scheduling an appointment using the app does allow them to do so while they wait.

A 20-year-old Venezuelan named Anais Rojas is likewise anxious about the status of her scheduled appointment for January 23, which she is taking with her young kid.

We are grateful for the appointment, but we still don’t know much. “We have no idea what’s going to happen,” she stated.

Despite Trump’s anti-immigrant comments, Rojas stated that she does not “feel hate” toward him.

Migrants may benefit from his ideas’ success in enhancing the US economy, she said.

“He won for a reason,” Rojas remarked.

“We stand to gain as well from an improved economy.”