美国国家公共电台 NPR Thousands Wait In Juárez, Mexico, For A Chance At Sanctuary In The U.S.（在线收听）

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Up and down the U.S. border, thousands in Mexico are waiting for their turn to request asylum from U.S. officials. In the Mexican city of Juarez alone, authorities say there are nearly 5,000 migrants. Long wait times and fears about changing U.S. policies have spurred some migrants to choose to cross illegally. Last week on one night, over a thousand people were apprehended near El Paso. Reporter Lorne Matalon was in Juarez recently and reports that city's become a destination for people fleeing conflicts and violence from all over the world.

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LORNE MATALON, BYLINE: Most of the people hunkering down in this migrant shelter are from Honduras and Guatemala, but Cubans and Venezuelans are also passing through, as well as people from at least three African countries - Angola, Uganda and Cameroon. Everyone at this shelter is waiting for their turn to request asylum at a U.S. port of entry. Florant is from Cameroon in Central Africa.

FLORANT: As soon as they get my story, they'll believe me and I'll make it there. So I have a lot of faith. That's my power.

MATALON: Florant, like other African migrants, asked that his last name not be used because he feared retribution against his family at home. He's waiting to have what's known as a credible fear interview with U.S. authorities. It's the first step in the asylum process. Tamra from Uganda says she's bracing herself for that interview.

TAMRA: It's so painful, very painful. That's why I can't even share my story.

MATALON: The waiting process begins like this - when migrants seeking asylum arrive in Juarez, they first give their names to Mexican authorities. They're given a number and put on a list - a list now more than 10,000 names long. Each day, U.S. authorities tell Mexican officials how many people will be allowed off that list, across the border for an initial hearing in El Paso.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Foreign language spoken).

MATALON: Musika from Uganda said before getting on that list, he and two friends had tried to present themselves to U.S. authorities as soon as they arrived. But they were sent back.

MUSIKA: We had to go back and then wait for a time that we are permitted to go inside.

MATALON: Some of the people in this group had flown from Nairobi, Kenya, to Brazil and then headed north through Colombia and Central America on a journey that in some cases took several months. It was a rough journey. Musika claims he was attacked by members of a street gang in Mexico City.

MUSIKA: Because of this kind of gang things, getting us because we are blacks and then we don't know the Spanish kind of thing, pulling out guns on us.

MATALON: Shelter director Juan Fierro Garcia says the long wait time has created tension at the shelter. Tension compounded a few months ago when there was a threat to close the border completely.

JUAN FIERRO GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).

MATALON: And he says that prompted some migrants to leave Juarez and cross illegally. Although Africans are now part of the migrant population here, Mexican officials say the vast majority are Cubans. An analysis by the Cato Institute finds that citizens of Cuba are now among the top three nationalities making asylum requests at U.S. borders. Here in Juarez, 52-year-old Pedro Luis Tamayo said he was a dissident in Cuba. He said even if his application is rejected, he won't enter the U.S. illegally.

PEDRO LUIS TAMAYO: (Speaking Spanish).

MATALON: "Honest people don't slip in the backyard or the window," he says. "They go legally through the front door."

A few feet away, Michael from Uganda said he'd received his number on that list two days before.

MICHAEL: Twelve thousand six hundred thirty-one.

MATALON: Twelve thousand six hundred thirty-one.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

MATALON: That means at least a two month wait. Shelter director Juan Fierro says no one will be asked to leave. But given the numbers of migrants arriving here, the shelter may not have room for more.

For NPR News, I'm Lorne Matalon in Juarez.

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