‘We’ll just jump the river’: Migrants stuck in Juarez frustrated as immigration court backlog grows

Dozens of Mexican families continue to wait to declare asylum as the backlog in immigration cases grows every day.

“It’s really hard to be on the streets,” said Marisela Estrada in Spanish. “It’s in God’s hands.”

Marisela Estrada sleeps with her four children on the streets of Juarez near the Paso Del Norte Bridge. She told Canal 44 that the wait is excruciating, but her family has enough food.

According to data from Syracuse University, the backlog in immigration court cases has surpassed one million.

“We’re suffering here, but we come here to change our lives and change our destiny,” said Jesus Manuel Gonzalez in Spanish.

“This report and DOJ’s own data further confirms there is a crisis at the border,” a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman said earlier this week. “This Administration is taking aggressive steps to increase productivity, close loopholes, and hire a record number of judges to address the backlog with our existing authorities.”

If Gonzalez and his family can’t cross in a timely manner, he told Canal 44 that they will get into the United States any way they can.

“If not, we’ll just jump the river,” Gonzalez said in Spanish. “We’re here already.”