LOS ANGELES — Mexico and the United States recently brokered a deal to work together to deport migrants from border cities on both sides of the border, such as Juarez in Mexico and Eagle Pass in Texas.

What You Need To Know

  • Migrants are coming to the U.S. seeking asylum from many countries, but the number of Venezuelan migrants has been on the rise over the past few months

  • The Biden administration granted Temporary Protective Status, or TPS, to half a million Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. before July 31 of this year

  • TPS allows people to work while still awaiting their asylum court dates

  • Mexico and the United States recently brokered a deal to work together to deport migrants from border cities on both sides of the border

Leadership in both cities, along with New York City, has requested support from the federal government due to what some describe as a humanitarian crisis.

Migrants are coming to the U.S. seeking asylum from many countries, but the number of Venezuelan migrants has been on the rise over the past few months. Recently, the Biden administration granted Temporary Protective Status, or TPS, to half a million Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. before July 31 of this year. TPS allows people to work while still awaiting their asylum court dates.

One Venezuelan family, now in Los Angeles, traveled for a month to reach the U.S. They left Venezuela earlier this summer because of the dire economic and social conditions in the country. Rosibel, who asked Spectrum News not to use her family’s last name, said they left for her 1-year-old daughter, Brianna, so that she could have a better life.

In Caracas, Rosibel was studying business administration. Her husband Josue was a mechanic.

“It wasn’t easy, leaving my mom and my sister. We’re very close,” she said.

Josue recalled how difficult it was to pay for food.

“Whatever I earned, it wasn’t enough for both of us to eat,” he said.

So, they left and, like thousands of others, took the treacherous but well-worn path from Venezuela to the U.S. — often on foot. Josue said he carried his daughter Brianna on his chest through the Darién Gap, a 100-mile-long stretch of jungle that separates Columbia and Panama.

“I had to carry my daughter because I thought she was going to drown and I almost drowned myself. When I crossed with her, I was afraid. But it was that or stay there alone because everyone else we were with had already crossed,” he said.

But even after they had reached Panama, the family still had thousands of miles to go, and no money left. Josue took odd jobs along the way to make ends meet. Eventually they made it to Mexico, where they snuck onto “the beast” a freight train frequently used by asylum-seekers and migrants to get to the U.S. border.

For Rosibel, the journey was terrifying.

“You have a lot of feelings come up, but you are always praying to God that you arrive safely. I was always thinking of my daughter,” she said.

Eventually, they made it to the U.S. after a month of travel. The family turned themselves into the U.S. immigration and claimed asylum. A church group payed for them to get a bus to Los Angeles, where they are now staying.

Despite the hurdles they face in the U.S., Josue and Rosibel say they feel leaving Venezuela to come to California was worth the risk because they see a brighter future here for their daughter than they did at home.

“I want to give her what I never had. I want her to be happy,” Rosibel said.