Migrants who cross in Yuma plan for life elsewhere in the United States
Most who cross the border in the Yuma Sector plan to travel somewhere else in the U.S. to wait for their court date
YUMA, Ariz. (KECY, KYMA) - The border crisis, visible nightly in Yuma County, continues to get national attention.
While migrants from all over the world cross the border into Yuma, most head elsewhere in the United States while their asylum claim is processed.
While it's been a long process for many migrants just to make it to the border, once they're here the journey isn't done.
Migrants at the wall on July 26th said they were traveling to Iowa, Houston, Pennsylvania, Chicago, New York, and more.
For asylum seekers, Yuma is just a brief stop on the way to their final destination.
Jeremy Echerria is 19, and traveling to Pennsylvania. He came to the Yuma border with his Aunt, Uncle, and cousins from Peru, leaving his parents behind.
“It’s not what you’d want to do, but that’s life I guess,” Echerria said.
He says the journey here was stressful, and that his family had to pay over one thousand dollars in bribes to Mexican immigration officers.
“They know we are a family of 6, and can’t leave one of us behind. We have to say yes to accept their conditions, because if not they will take us in and send us back to our country," Echerria said.
Echerria plans on heading to Pennsylvania to stay with family.
Adding ultimately the struggles to get to where he is now was worth it.
“I’m happy to make a new plan with my life,” Echerria said.
Hoping for a better future in the United States.
