During the campaign, Donald Trump announced the largest deportations in American history. He repeated the promise so often that it reached immigrants who are heading to the United States, although they are still very far from the border. A caravan of people from Honduras, Venezuela and other South American countries is passing through Mexico. For them it is a fight against time. They must reach the border before January 20 because they hope they will still be able to enter the United States.
They say they had no choice but to flee Venezuela. – If Trump is watching us, if he is listening to us, please give us a chance. We are with the children. We left the country not because we wanted to, but because we had to. I'm a nurse. I voted against Maduro and was fired, says Xavi Yiperi, an immigrant from Venezuela.
The immigrant caravan heading to the United States is racing against time. They want to reach the US border before Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. Even during stops, getting to the border is the main topic.
– On the one hand, Trump's victory worries us, but on the other hand, I believe that he actually has a heart, he has his own family. He fights for the good of his country. If he was elected, it means he must have something good in him, says Elder Hernandez, an immigrant from Honduras.
Trump's immigration policy may impact Americans. “There will be a rapid increase in inflation”Justyna Kazimierczak/Fakty o Świecie TVN24 BiS
“Tsar of the border” on guard
Donald Trump has already talked to the president of Mexico, who promised him that immigrants coming through her country will not reach the southern border of the United States. That's why the caravan is accompanied by agents from the Mexican immigration office at almost every step.
– Like all countries, the United States wants to protect its borders. That's why they send immigrants back. Mexico wants to avoid imposing high tariffs on them, so maybe that's why local agents are trying to convince us to return to Tapachula, but we're moving on, emphasizes Luisa Bejarano, an immigrant from Venezuela.
In Texas, members of the future Trump administration and his supporters are assuring residents that the president-elect's promise of mass deportation will be fulfilled.
– The consequence of the greatest immigration crisis in our nation's history must be mass deportation, because ten years of data show that nine out of ten of these people lose their asylum cases but will not be deported. Where the hell are we going wrong? – says Tom Homan, adviser to President Donald Trump on American border security.
The composition of Donald Trump's administration is becoming increasingly controversial in the United StatesKatarzyna Sławińska/Fakty TVN
The first fragments of the fence
Tom Homan was hailed by Trump as the “border czar.” He is to be responsible for dealing with the immigration crisis at the highest level. But Trump is helped by officials at a much lower level, such as the Texas land commissioner.
“I have presented to President Trump and future border czar Tom Homan an offer to use this land to build an immigration detention center and manage the largest deportation of violent criminals in our country's history,” said Dr. Dawn Buckingham, Texas Land Commissioner.
The center proposed by Commissioner Buckingham would be built on over five hundred hectares of land that Texas purchased from the previous owners who did not consent to the construction of the wall. Several hours after the transaction, a building permit was issued, and on Tuesday the first fragments of an over eight-meter fence were erected there.
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Main photo source: Reuters