Recently there has been a large number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border between Mexico and the US from Central America. The US Customs and Border Control Commissioner discussed the Dangers Awareness Campaign, a Spanish language outreach effort to community groups, the media, parents and relatives in the US and Central America to save and protect the lives of migrant children attempting to cross the border.
The children are especially easy prey for coyotes and transnational criminal organizations and they can be subjected to robbery, violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, or forced labor. The natural elements such as harsh terrain and unmerciful weather conditions are also causing more amounts of danger. So far this year the US Border Patrol has identified more than 220 deaths along the border, including 34 water-related deaths, all due to the weather. The campaign will be broadcasted in Spanish and will be raising awareness of the dangers of crossing the border, it will be shown to metropolitan areas with high concentrations of Central Americans.
Reyna was put in danger while she crossed the border. She crossed with her dad, Mago, and Carlos, the first two times they failed to cross was because of her. She was little so she got exhausted, had a toothache, got a fever, and got too hot, the conditions weren't meant for a girl her age to be running that much and that far. The second time she found a dead body, at the time though she didn't grasp how much danger she was in and how life threatening it was for her. The final time when they crossed a helicopter flew up, had they not hidden well they could have been shot. They faced many risks that Reyna just couldn't recognize at the time.
Reyna, unlike many children today, was lucky though. She had a father to cross with her so she wasn't just a little girl running. When she got too tired her father could carry her, he would help her hide quickly when they needed to, and he could give her advice and tell her what to do. Most children crossing the border illegally don't have that much help, they have to rely on what they have been told and on the other children that they are crossing with. Most children don't cross completely alone, they almost always have a sibling or some other child running across with them. Even though Reyna had help she was still in an immense amount of danger, such as the children are now.
Link to article: CBP Commissioner Discusses Dangers of Crossing US Border, Awareness Campaign
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