Aristegui Noticias:
Dozens of families separated by the border between Mexico and the United States met on Monday near the metal fence between the two countries. The event, on the eve of the papal visit to Ciudad Juárez, was a binational protest against U.S. immigration policy.
Organized by the Border Network for Human Rights, a pro-immigrant group in El Paso, Texas, the event was an opportunity for immigrants' families to reunite.
Separated by the border fence, they spoke about their feelings and the problems they face due to U.S. immigration laws. Gabriela Castañeda, spokeswoman for the Border Network for Human Rights, told Notimex:
"Many families have gone a long time without being able to see each other."The protest took place at the border point separating the community of Sunland Park, New Mexico, from the Anapra neighborhood in western Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. At that point, the borders of New Mexico, Texas and Mexico come together.
Some participants, including several undocumented immigrants on U.S. soil, issued statements about the pain it causes them to live separated from their families.
For many, however, the event was a festive occasion—an opportunity to get together through the fence with relatives whom they hadn't seen in years and those they wanted to greet by shaking hands through small gaps in the border fence.
María Ceniceros Galván, a 59-year-old undocumented immigrant who lives in the nearby community of Las Cruces, New Mexico, said that she could see her daughter and her grandchildren through the fence for the first time in eight years.
Linda Rodríguez, a young woman living in El Paso, Texas, said that she could see her mother for the first time since she was a baby. Rodríguez said:
"I hadn't seen her since I was a little girl and for me, it was a great opportunity to meet my mother. It is very difficult and sad that we cannot be together."(With information from Notimex) Spanish original