-How are they?
“Fine thanks.”
-Happy?
“Of course happy, reunited again after a long time.”
Scenes like this are repeated every day across the country and at the bus terminal as thousands of refugees pour into the city from the southern border.
“There is no explanation, it is something very big, it has been five months without seeing us,” said Roxana María Medina Larreal, a Venezuelan refugee.
Roxana arrived Wednesday morning with her two children, a five-year-old girl and a seven-month-old boy, after more than 30 days of travel.
Her husband arrived in New York in the summer. She says he lives in a shelter and looks for work on the street to survive.
“This is what I asked God every day, to be the four of us together. And the four of us fight together here in this new country,” said her husband Elki Xavier Colina Martínez.
But the fate of other families like that of this Venezuelan couple, who are still waiting to enter the United States across the Mexican border, has been in legal limbo of supporters and detractors alike lately.
After a petition from several Republican states, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Title 42, which limits its approval, provoking the ire of the White House, which considers it inhumane.
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There are reports that they are huddled together waiting to pass without even bathrooms.
Power Malú, an activist who always welcomes them with his best face, especially the children, defines everything as a political game.
“Right now what they are saying is these people come with diseases. who are sick. This is racist,” Malú said.
On the other hand, there are those who criticize President Joe Biden for not having a plan or providing resources. New York, for example, where nearly 32,000 have passed, he says he has almost no money or room for anything else.
In the midst of the struggle is the human drama. And non-profits like South Bronx Beatstro, TLC NYC and Rethink Food, welcoming them with a hot meal.
– How long has it been since you ate something hot?
“A month and more. Yes, because many days I went hungry with my children. Other days I asked. They didn’t give us food on the bus we came from,” added Medina Larreal.
Title 42 will return to the Supreme Court table in February, as states like New York continue to ask the Biden administration for help in giving it a dignified reception.
