Cuban migrant experienced ‘long, tough’ journey to U.S
The number of Cuban migrants entering the border and staying in El Paso continues to rise. Officials with the Houchen Community Center tell Abc-7 100 migrants stayed there last night. Thursday morning, 75 were bused out of El Paso to Miami. The remaining 25 are still trying to work out their plans, another 88 migrants are expected to cross the border Thursday.
Many of them have family and friends in the U.S and plan to stay only for a couple of hours in El Paso before leaving. Some migrants arrived into Juarez overnight, and walked to the Houchen community center seeking food and shelter. One man shared his journey with Abc-7 and tells us he has come a long way from his home country.
Pedro Nieves said it has been a long and dangerous journey. He tells Abc-7 he left Cuba a year ago, then went from Colombia to Equador. That’s where he says he encountered a rough financial situation. From there, he went to Panama, and was stranded like hundreds of other Cuban migrants for at least three months.
“We got here yesterday at midnight and we crossed the border at about 2 in the morning, Nieves said. “We came here walking, we don’t have anything. We don’t have money, we don’t have clothes. What we have on is what we left with and how we arrived.”
Nieves says while he arrived Wednesday night, groups began flying into Juarez Monday. He says the first thing he plans to do is find work–but he has no family or friends in the U.S and isn’t sure if he’ll stay in El Paso.
“I don’t know what to do because we don’t have plans and we are going to try to get our papers here and work, that’s the top priority.”
Nieves was looking for the Houchen Community Center when we found him in South El Paso. He hopes to get better direction there. Nieves says he left behind his wife and young daughter in Cuba. His dream is to bring both to the U.S so they can all be together. He knows times are hard in Cuba and doesn’t know how he’s going to do it, but he’s determined.
At least two flights are expected daily from panama to Juarez. Officials with the Houchen Community Center tell us those numbers have fluctuated. Officials are expecting at least 3500 total.
