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Crossing the US-Mexico border, just to see [1]

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Date: 2022-07 

I didn’t panic when they saw me. I thought, if they catch us, it’s ok. I knew that because I was underage they would send me back here. And the men on the horses behaved well. They gave us something to eat and blankets. They asked us questions about how many times we’ve crossed, how old we were, etc. And they took our fingerprints and photos. They treated us well.

Read the same story, told this time by Omar’s mother

I have never crossed people myself. It never attracted me. I had a friend who offered me 400 pesos (US$20) to help him hold the ladders that they use to climb. But I said no. It is not that I was afraid. And nobody tried to force me. It was just not what I wanted to do.

My first job was with my brother in a workshop repairing drills, polishers, and other tools. I was 15 and it was just supposed to be a summer job. But I liked it more than school, and I ended up staying for more than a year. I earned little: 500 pesos (US$25) a week. So little in fact that I sometimes had to buy my lunch burritos on credit. I liked the job, but I didn’t like the pay.

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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/crossing-the-us-mexico-border-just-to-see/

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