Residents living in cities near the US-Mexico border face daily challenges such as drugs, gang wars, and violence due to the presence of various cartels in the area. In Juarez, the Sinaloa Cartel, famously led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman before his capture, and the Juarez Cartel often engage in bloody fights over territory, putting the lives of the ordinary people in danger.

Many decide to flee to the United States in hopes of peaceful days and better opportunities. While others get the chance to rebuild their lives, some are subjected to extreme conditions.


Chemical Assault

In March 2020, a 41-year-old asylum seeker named Elizabeth approached U.S. border agents after she was kidnapped by unknown men in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez. The perpetrators reportedly tortured her for 12 days, burning her legs with acid and sexually assaulting her in front of her 10-year-old daughter.

Doctors in Ciudad Juarez were unable to give her the proper medical care she needed, putting her at high risk of developing infections and scarring, both of which could affect her ability to walk.

Elizabeth originally lived in Guatemala. She was in an abusive relationship and would often receive beatings from her partner. The local police allegedly refused to help her despite filing a complaint. She left with her daughter in fear that, one day, her partner would kill her.

She and her daughter arrived in Ciudad Juarez in late July. The pair got into a car they mistook for an Uber after getting off a bus. The driver took them out of the streets and into a desert.

The pair were kept inside a dirty home that "smelled of death" for 12 days. Elizabeth was repeatedly subjected to sexual assault in front of her daughter. According to court documents, the men never raped her. Still, they had used their fingers and various objects to penetrate her.

The men threatened to rape her and her daughter if they did not provide them with a number to call for ransom. After days of not receiving the ransom money, the men poured a chemical solution on her legs, which resulted in second-degree burns.

The pair escaped when the perpetrators accidentally left the door open. She woke up in the hospital with her left ankle still bleeding and the bone exposed.

Nicolas Palazzo, an attorney in El Paso, Texas, said Elizabeth's case happens to hundred of individuals waiting at the border. While not all victims suffer being chemically burned, most still face equally horrific acts of violence.


Search for A Better Life

Human Rights First, a nonprofit organization, published a report on January detailing harrowing stories of crime in the cities along the border, including a seven-year-old girl who was a victim of sexual assault, and a Cuban migrant who was abducted while buying food in town.

More than 57,000 asylum seekers live in notoriously dangerous border towns while awaiting court proceedings on their asylum claims. Human Rights First reports 816 incidents of violence on asylum seekers.

With a recent decrease in drug sales, cartels are turning to kidnap for ransom, with some families reportedly asked to give up to $20,000 for the release of their loved one-some whose relatives are unable to pay the full amount never see freedom again.

A U.S. media site recently interviewed a cartel member allegedly responsible for watching over several kidnap victims. Watch the video below:


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