Roma migrants from Europe are funneling across the U.S.-Mexico border and onto the shores of a tiny riverfront town, making them the latest group of migrants to flock to America since President Joe Biden took office in January.
The rising number of non-Latin American people showing up at the southern border has become a trend as groups from Europe and South America take bigger risks in hopes of being admitted to the United States since the Biden administration relaxed immigration protocols.
THOUSANDS OF BRAZILIANS ATTEMPT TO ENTER US ILLEGALLY AT SOUTHERN BORDER
Border Patrol agents working along the Rio Grande River in Roma, Texas, have apprehended more than 2,200 Romanians since the start of fiscal year 2021, which began in October 2020. That figure is eight times the number seen in all of 2019 and 2020. In addition to the Romanians, more than 15,000 people from Brazil and Venezuela were encountered at the border in April alone.
The Roma migrants seeking asylum are part of Europe’s largest ethnic minority group. Those who spoke with Reuters after coming across the river said they were leaving due to racism in Romania. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that tracks border activity, first shared the apprehension data with Reuters.
Many of the European migrants are flying into Mexico from Europe because Mexico does not require visitors to obtain a visa before entering the country. From Mexico, the migrants travel to the U.S.-Mexico border and make their way through the border river in south Texas, where Border Patrol agents on the U.S. side will take them into custody. People who make asylum claims will not be turned away at the border despite a public health order in effect that states all illegal crossers ought to be returned across the border.
Roma do not have a national home and hail from mostly European nations, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. For centuries, the Roma people have been discriminated against and not welcomed by other European countries, sometimes prompting them to live on the road.
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Attempted illegal entries at the southern border topped 178,000 in April, the most in a single month since 2000. The Biden administration has blamed its predecessor for the surge and refused to deem it a “crisis” despite its opening more than a dozen emergency shelters to hold the unprecedented number of unaccompanied children coming across the border since February.
Original Location: Roma migrants follow trend of non-Latin American people showing up at border
