14ymedio, Mexico, December 15, 2023 — A family of nine Cubans got lost last Wednesday in the mountainous area from Tijuana to Tecate in the Mexican state of Baja California, in their attempt to reach the United States. The migrants managed to make a phone call to the city council to ask for help and were rescued.
The municipal director of care for migrants, Enrique Lucero Vázquez, told local media that between October and December of this year, they have rescued 31 people. The National Institute of Migration (INM) took care of the Cubans, and their legal status was not reported, only that they would be transferred to the immigration station located in the state.
It is not known if the Cubans were abandoned by people leading them. The route is widely used by coyotes to bring migrants to the United States. In recent months, according to the head of State Migration, David Pérez Tejada Padilla, between 200 and 300 people crossed illegally through this route. “These are the figures provided by the Border Patrol; I am also impressed by the data,” the official told El Sol de Tijuana.
The authorities have a map showing the main illegal crossing points, among which are, i