Guatemala Man Apprehended After Trying to Cross the U.S.-Mexico Border for the Fifth Time
A Guatemala man has been captured after he tried to cross the U.S.-Mexico border for the fifth time.
The immigrant was identified as Orlando Yaxi, who was detained on Tuesday, May 25, by Border Patrol Agents around the McAllen-Hidalgo Reynosa International Bridge in Texas, according to a Fox News report.
Yaxi is a construction worker and a father to two children. He said that it was just always the same struggle. He noted that they had nothing as they could not afford to buy anything due to the pandemic and hurricanes.
The Guatemala man and his two friends from his village had spent three months traveling north. He said that they paid a coyote a total of $10,000 to help them cross the Rio Grande, according to a Border Report news.
Yaxi said that each time he is caught, he is taken back to the bridge and told to walk over it to Mexico.
Yaxi said that they would probably be sent back when asked what would happen to him. He added that he knows God is watching.
READ MORE: Up to 40 Bodies Found Buried at Home of Ex-El Salvador Cop Who Confessed to Killing 2 Women
Migrant Crisis At The U.S.-Mexico Border
In March, around 19,000 migrant children traveling alone were stopped at the Mexican border. This sets a new record high during periods of an influx of child migration in 2014 and 2019, according to an Associated Press report.
Total migrant encounters were more than 172,000 in March, which is an increase of around 100,000 from the previous month. It was also identified as the highest number of encounters since March 2001.
Biden administration officials said that about 28 percent of people expelled in March had been ousted before.
When U.S. President Joe Biden was seated as president, families and children traveling alone have more legal protections and require greater care.
It has also become a bigger part of the mix during his administration, with more than 40 percent of all encounters in March, which is a 13 percent increase from three months earlier.
U.S. officials said they were holding more than 22,500 unaccompanied children as of early May, according to a BBC News report.
Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that the CBP cams are no place for children.
Biden officials had also announced this month that a task force was established to reunite families separated under the Trump administration.
The effort was one of the first steps taken by the Biden administration since the Family Reunification Task Force was created in January.
The task force noted that there are now around 1,000 families that are still separated.
Meanwhile, travel restrictions remain in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with asylum-seekers being sent back to Mexico except for families traveling with very young children and unaccompanied migrant youth.
Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said that they are holding discussions with the DHS and CBP. Both have decided to extend restrictions due to the border cities not being fully immunized, according to another Border Report news.
Ebrard added that Mexico would like to see the economy of border cities in both countries back to normal.
READ NEXT: Pres. Joe Biden Plans to Demote the Second Top U.S. Customs and Border Protection Official: Report
WATCH: First 100 Days: Biden's Challenge At The U.S.- Mexico Border - from NBC Nightly News
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