Exhausted but smiling, a migrant father with a young child strapped to his back gathers his family for a selfie to celebrate illegally crossing over the border into the US at Eagle Pass, Texas.
Behind him, a mass of hundreds of other asylum seekers who had made it alongside them Tuesday crush behind him, next to the border’s razor-wire fencing.
The southwest border has been besieged, seeing upward of 10,000 people a day handing themselves over to officers for processing.
And there is no end in sight as the hordes keep coming, with Costa Rica declaring a state of emergency this week as thousands of migrants flood over the country’s border heading north to the US.
Here The Post offers a rare firsthand account through the eyes of a witness on the front lines of the border crisis who followed the journey of the selfie-snapping dad as he made the final push to cross the Rio Grande River to reach the US. This is his account:
I joined the mostly Venezuelan group after they had worked their way up near the border by hiding on a freight chartered through northern Mexico.
They had been battered by the wind and elements and, as the train had not stopped in many hours, had little chance to eat or drink.
As the sun set over the Rio Grande, we could see Eagle Pass, Texas, to the north. I was accompanied by a local who knows Piedras Negras, Mexico.
From the train tracks, it’s a hard 15 miles over rough terrain to the US-Mexico border for the migrants, who are all ages from elderly to toddlers. Some barely have shoes left, worn down from the hundreds of miles they have walked.
Once they got to the river, the smugglers were waiting. The migrants knew they would have to pay the cartel in order to be allowed to cross the river, as no one crosses without their permission.
Money changes hands, but the transactions are done discreetly, so it’s hard to say how much. The human traffickers were aware US journalists were documenting the crossing, but didn’t menace anyone and instead simply asked not to be photographed.
The smugglers separated everyone into groups of 50 to 100. They then staggered them, telling them exactly when to cross.
Everyone waited their turn, following the orders of the smugglers, one of whom acts as a guide, getting into the water and testing the route along the riverbed to make sure it’s crossable.
Once the migrants are in the freezing water, they are directed to hold on to a rope to help stabilize them.
Some were caught off guard as they entered the currents of rushing water and took a few uneasy steps, trying to balance.
Most people held on to the rope for dear life where they could, and others held hands — hoping to stabilize themselves better during the crossing.
Source: https://nypost.com/2023/09/28/smuggled-migrants-treacherous-journey-across-rio-grande-documented/