Young girl’s song soothes desperate migrants in make-shift border camp
The sweet sounds of an 11-year-old girl’s songs have helped a group of migrants weather fear and uncertainty as they languish in a trash-strewn encampment on the US-Mexico border in California.
“Gift me your smile; teach me to dream,” sang Daphne Tejeda, who arrived with her parents and three siblings from Peru Friday. “Gift me your star, the one that illuminates this night, full of peace and harmony. And I will give you my life.”
Daphne’s singing in Spanish echoed through the make-shift encampment, which popped up between a primary and secondary border wall in San Ysidro, on the California side of the US-Mexico border where up to 500 migrants, many of them children, sought temporary shelter this week, according to volunteers who are keeping track of the numbers.
Many were unaware that Title 42, the Trump-era policy that allowed Border Patrol to return migrants to Mexico, had expired Thursday.
Daphne’s father, Gary Tejeda, 40, said that his daughter’s singing had helped the migrants keep their spirits up.
Tejeda, who worked in IT in Peru, told The Post he was escaping political persecution in his country, where he was beaten when he participated in demonstrations to oust Pedro Castillo, the former president of Peru, who was impeached in December.
“There is no change,” Tejeda said, referring to new president Dina Boluarte. “I need a better life for my family. The politics are dangerous.”
A local volunteer said that many of the migrants arriving at the camp are ill and have arrived with untreated injuries.
What is Title 42 and what does its end mean for US border immigration?
What is Title 42?
Title 42 is a federal health measure enforced by the US Border Patrol. It allows the agency to kick certain migrants out of the US and return them to Mexico. This includes asylum seekers, who under international law have the legal right to make an asylum claim in America.
Currently, migrants who cross the border illegally and who are from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua or Venezuela are subject to Title 42 and could be sent to Mexico.
How did Title 42 start?
President Donald Trump invoked the law in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue the policy. The Trump administration made the case that keeping migrants out of the country would slow down the spread of infections and maintain the safety of federal agents encountering migrants.
What has happened with Title 42 under Biden?
When President Biden took over, he continued to enforce Title 42 with one important change from his predecessor. Biden said Border Patrol agents were only allowed to expel migrants from certain countries under his direction. That meant migrants seeking asylum from countries like Cuba and Venezuela could still seek asylum if they arrived at the border and stay in the US while their cases were decided in court — unless they had a criminal record.
What is happening with Title 42 now?
Title 42 is supposed to be a health policy, not an immigration law. It will end at 11:59 p.m. May 11, when the Biden administration ends all COVID-19-related policies.
Why is it controversial?
Many have called for the policy’s end, saying it’s illegal and that international law guarantees people the right to seek asylum.
Others, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, warn that the southern border could see up to 13,000 migrants per day crossing with the intention to stay in the country when the measure ends.
What would the end of Title 42 mean for immigration into the US?
It’s unclear exactly how many people have been expelled under Title 42 because there have been scores of people who have attempted to enter the country numerous times and been rejected again and again, but the US Border Patrol said it made an all-time high of more than 2.3 million arrests at the border in the last fiscal year. Forty percent of people who were expelled from the country were ejected under the rules of Title 42.
Flower Alvarez Lopez, who works with the non-profit Universidad Popular, said that Border Patrol agents have not provided any medical help for sick migrants.
Among the injured is a small boy with a swollen knee, and an Asian man, who spoke neither English nor Spanish, but appeared to be in extreme pain and had trouble walking, Alvarez Lopez said, adding that she took a photograph of his wound, which she thinks could be gangrene.
Although she called 911, emergency responders were not sure they would be able to provide help from the US side of the wall.
“This is a humanitarian crisis,” Alvarez Lopez said.
