Abel Alvarado\/CNN<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n After lining up, the family – whose members range in age from 5 to 40 – head to the shelter\u2019s dining hall. They sit together and occupy most of a communal table. <\/p>\n
As soon as they sit, they seem to put all their problems aside and focus on one another, on talking and enjoying the warm meal. The day\u2019s menu: chicken soup and a small dish of rice and beans with canned tuna. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe most delicious soup does exist,\u201d 9-year-old Abel Jesus says with his mouth half-full and soup dripping from the edge of his mouth. <\/p>\n
The adults chat and mostly talk about rumors they\u2019ve heard about the CBP One app. <\/p>\n
\u201cI heard appointments until January 30 will be reinstated,\u201d Luis Alfonso Polanco, 30, says of a rumor that later proved to be untrue. \u201cThat\u2019s what a friend in the US told me.\u201d <\/p>\n
On the other side of the table, his partner Yelitza Olivero talks to two other migrants from Ecuador and shares the rumor about the app with them. <\/p>\n
At times, the family\u2019s border chatter turns into laughter and jokes about one another. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to make jokes about each other, it\u2019s a way of distracting from the news we received on January 20, it was very sad,\u201d Lucymar\u2019s cousin, 18-year-old Estiven Castillo, says. <\/p>\n
Surviving the Darien gap and the cartels<\/h2>\n
Lucymar and her family say they fled the Venezuelan state of Lara due to political persecution from authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro\u2019s government. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were part of an opposing political party,\u201d she says. \u201cMy family, my parents, everyone there, and the government knew that, and we\u2019d constantly be threatened.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI was set to receive a house from a program run by the government but after they found out who I voted for in prior elections, they took that benefit away from me,\u201d she says holding back tears. <\/p>\n
Prior to leaving Venezuela, both Lucymar and her brother, Luis Alfonso, worked in the beauty industry. \u201cI was a barber in Venezuela, but things were so bad that at times I cut hair in exchange for food,\u201d Luis Alfonso says. <\/p>\n
Lucymar\u2019s husband, Jesus Caruci, 40, worked as a mechanic, and Yelitza, who\u2019s married to Luis Alfonso, worked in sales. The rest of the traveling family, all young adults or children, were in school before leaving the country. <\/p>\n
Their journey began a little over two years ago. They spent a few months in neighboring Colombia to later trek through several countries. They crossed the treacherous Darien Gap safely \u2013 but were kidnapped by a cartel after arriving in southern Mexico. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we entered Tapachula, they were waiting for us,\u201d Luis Alfonso recalls. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey tricked us, they forced us into a vehicle and said they were taking us to a safe place (\u2026) but they took us to a farm and held us there for six days.\u201d <\/p>\n
Luis Alfonso says the criminal group only released after they paid $900 \u2013 all that they were carrying. <\/p>\n
\u201cEver since we\u2019ve survived with some money our family has sent us or that we\u2019ve had to borrow,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u2018Trump, take our country and call it Venezuela of America\u2019<\/h2>\n
After sobremesa<\/em>, the family goes to the shelter\u2019s patio to get some sun and continue to chat. They gather several plastic chairs that are spread out through the uneven and cracked shelter pavement and form a circle. The little kids decide to run around and play in an outdoor playset. <\/p>\n \u201cI understand Trump,\u201d says 19-year-old Beyker Sosa as the family stays quiet. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been crimes done by illegal migrants, I understand the measures, they are meant to keep the country safe,\u201d he adds. \u201cBut we aren\u2019t criminals, I wish he (Trump) would have compassion, we are humans just like him.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe never considered entering illegally, we never want to hide from authorities, we wanted to be able to walk free,\u201d Beyker says. \u201cIt\u2019s very sad to have done things right, the legal way, only to have Trump shut the app down, but I guess God doesn\u2019t want us there.\u201d <\/p>\n
The family says their smartphones and conversation are their only form of entertainment in the shelter. \u201cWe can\u2019t even go out, we were warned that migrants are targeted in this area, so we just stay in, especially after already being kidnapped,\u201d Lucymar says. <\/p>\n
Still, with kids to entertain, snacks are a must. Luis Alfonso and Estiven go to a store around the corner to buy cookies and soda. <\/p>\n
As they return, they rejoin the conversation and start passing around Oreos and a plastic cup with orange soda. <\/p>\n
\u201cTrump should clean up Venezuela, we are good people, but he should up take out the bad ones, especially those in the government, take them out, Trump, and then take our country and call it Venezuela of America,\u201d Beyker jokes as he refers to Trump\u2019s bid to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. <\/p>\n
Nearly two hours later, the family is back in the main room of the shelter with each settling into their beds again. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all we do, we are either in our beds, on our phones, we wonder what could\u2019ve been,\u201d Lucymar says. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n
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The main room in the El Buen Samaritano shelter in Ciudad Juarez, a city along the US-Mexico border, is quiet for most of the day. Rows of bunk beds stretch from wall to wall, each separated by thin curtains or hanging sheets. The mismatched mattresses are occupied by men, women, and children \u2013 all migrants <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12710,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}