{"id":196149,"date":"2019-04-04T20:51:44","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T00:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=196149"},"modified":"2019-04-04T20:51:44","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T00:51:44","slug":"thousands-of-cubans-stranded-in-ciudad-juarez-on-the-mexican-u-s-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/society-cuba\/migrations-in-cuba\/thousands-of-cubans-stranded-in-ciudad-juarez-on-the-mexican-u-s-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Cubans stranded in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, on the Mexican-U.S. border"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an unprecedented phenomenon in Mexico, the border city of Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez is welcoming thousands of <\/span>Cuban migrants <\/span><\/a>waiting to request or resolve their asylum application in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

“They have welcomed us here very well. The food given to us has a bit of chili, but that is not their fault,” Juan Carlos Flores, a Cuban migrant who, with his wife, has been in this city in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua for more than a month, told EFE news agency this Wednesday with a smile on his face.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flores said he had chosen this border crossing \u2015which these days is being threatened with the border closure by President Donald Trump\u2015 when he found out that asylum seekers apparently were crossing quickly and without risks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The couple decided to migrate because they did not like Cuba\u2019s current system, about which they said it had “its pros and cons” and they preferred to leave their country in search of a better job opportunity in the United States, for many the dream land.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to official figures, 70% of the more than 3,300 migrants who are currently in transit in this Mexican city are Cuban.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Ju\u00e1rez had even stopped being a city where it was no longer very important for migratory flows to the United States. Seeing us again at the center of migratory flows was something very surprising,” Jes\u00fas Pe\u00f1a, a researcher from the Department of Population Studies of Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), told EFE.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the migration expert, the current situation was in crescendo after the arrival of 100 Cuban migrants to this border in October last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

This first group of 100 migrants was allowed to enter the United States in less than 24 hours after stepping on Ju\u00e1rez territory.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Those people left Brazil for Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez because the first migrant caravan was in Tijuana. I think it was easier for them to get to other borders, there were even more flight connections and bus routes to Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez,” said Pe\u00f1a.<\/span><\/p>\n