NEW YORK (AP) – Monica Mukinche has left the Ecuadorian highlands with her 10-year-old son-in-law just a few days to reach New York.
She flew to Mexico City, took a bus, crossed the US border, crossed by boat, and was arrested by a border guard. After a night in Texas, she was released and headed to the big Apple.
“I think God is waiting,” said the 35-year-old, who lost her husband last year while trying to make the same trip.
Mukinche is one of the largest Ecuadorian immigrants to the United States. Beyond El Salvador, the fourth-largest U.S. citizen behind the Mexican border, Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras is the largest. U.S. officials stopped Ecuador in 17,314 times in July, up from 3,598 in January.
People from South America were the only major citizens of the U.S. border guards in the congested El Paso area in July.
Other non-traditional immigrants, including Brazilians and Venezuelans, have seen an increase in illegal immigrants to the United States. But Ecuador stands out because of its small population – less than 18 million people.
In part, the seemingly entrenched influx of coronavirus and Mexican policy has also increased the number of Ecuadorians on the voyage.
Ecuador’s economy struggled for several years before the Covenant-19 collapsed. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs, and officials say 70% of businesses have been closed for at least some time.
Meanwhile, the Mexican government He announced that in 2018, Ecuadorians will be able to visit without a visa. After the travel ban was lifted, those with passports and plane tickets were forced to jump across the border into the United States.
A.D. In the first half of 2021, more than 88,000 Ecuadorians left their country for Mexico, and more than 54,000 did not return, according to the Ecuadorian government. More than 22,000 of these trips were made in July alone.
William Murillo, co-founder of 1800migrante.com, a law firm that specializes in immigration matters, said:
Ecuadorians no longer needed smugglers to travel north, but they turned to large numbers of smugglers who could cross the border into the United States.
“They lie, they deceive people,” Murilo said. We predicted many deaths and persecution.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this month that 54 Ecuadorians have been missing since early 2019 as they tried to cross the Ukrainian border. Nineteen are missing this year.
A sudden jump in persecution caused Mexico to abandon its visa-free option. Ecuadorians need visas again on Saturday. Mexican officials say the measure is “a temporary measure to prevent Ecuadorians from being caught in human trafficking networks.”
Murilo said he knew the election of President Joe Biden would be more friendly than that of Donald Trump. False rumors spread about US officials allowing refugees to cross the border, his lawyer said.
For his part, Gloria Chavez, head of the El Paso Border Guard, said the Ecuadorian government would not be affected by the epidemic’s efforts to prevent the spread of cholera.
He said the agency was beginning to notice an increase in the number of Ecuadorians last year.
We started to see more Ecuadorians coming into our area, and we started to see a gradual increase every week. And we began to see a trend that way, ”Chavez said in May.
Mukherjee’s wife, Carlos Lopez, By the end of 2019, political instability was on the rise in Ecuador. He went north looking for better opportunities.
He crossed the border into the United States, stopped his first attempt, and returned to Mexico. Mukinche called and said the smugglers’ employers in Ecuador had pointed a gun at him and told him he had provided information to US border officials.
Mukinche stopped accepting her husband’s calls in April 2020. She was arrested in Ecuador but later complained of smuggling. Mukinche said he began threatening her by asking her to drop the complaint.
She was earning $ 180 every two weeks and felt threatened and indebted to Lopez for a trip to the United States.
“I’m scared to come,” she said. “Now, I think the worst is behind me. I learned to live with this disease. ”
Mukinche flew to Mexico City with Le Son, then took buses from Rome, Texas, across the Rio Grande to Sewdad Miguel Aleman. He and other refugees crossed the river in small boats and were detained by U.S. border agents.
She was released but was ordered to do so by immigration officials, which she did in New York.
Many of the Ecuadorians who come to New York are from the volcanic forests of Ecuador’s national parks in the Andean highlands. Most are poor farmers, with little opportunity for other jobs.
People trying to reach the United States are in debt to pay $ 15,000 or more to traffickers. Some have been kidnapped on the street for ransom, have to pay extra for their families, or are in danger of losing their way.
Christian Lupercio, 21, was an unlicensed taxi driver in Kuneka, Ecuador, when the plague left a few customers. He headed for Mexico, hoping to cross the US border.
Finally, on Thanksgiving, he spoke with his father, Claudio Lupercio, and began his journey. Claudius Lupercio said that his son’s instructions, which he had learned from others, were lost in the desert and that Christian was tired.
Lupercio, an elder in Long Island, asked about the boy at the Ecuadorian Consulate in Texas, lawyers, hospitals near the border, and immigration officials.
As news of his disappearance spread, people in Ecuador became aware of the whereabouts of Christians. He said it was a scam.
“I paid them $ 2,500. I was so desperate, I believed them, ”said Lupercio.
According to the Immigration Policy Institute, New York is the most popular destination for Americans in Ecuador, with more than 241,000 living in the state. Ecuadorian restaurants with names such as El Sol de Kuto or El Ensebolado de Rossi are common on Queens and Brooklyn streets.
Many fled the country in the late 1990s following the economic crisis.
Walter Sinche Alianza Equatorial and International, director of the Community Center in Queens, said 10 to 15 Ecuadorians were present in their rooms regarding safety regulations in the construction industry. About 50 are now in attendance.
“They only stayed here for three days, a week, a month,” he said. “Migration Is Happening”
For Muminci, frying green planet pumpkins and picking Ensebolado in his restaurant will help her remember the loss of her husband.
“I have a baby I need,” she cried, her eyes red. I have to move on. ”
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Associated Press Secretary Gonzalo Solono contributed to this report from Kito.