Migrants pause in the Amazon because getting to the US is harder. Most have no idea what lies ahead

(3 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Assis Brasil, Brazil - 20 June 2024
1. Aerial shot of bridge at the Brazil/Peru border ++MUTE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Assis Brasil, Brazil, looking towards Iñapari, Peru - 20 June 2024
2. Entrance to the city with a road sign that reads (Spanish) “Welcome to Peru” with distances to main Peruvian cities
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Assis Brasil, Brazil - 20 June 2024
3. Motorcycle crossing the bridge between Brazil and Peru
4. Aerial shot of Assis Brasil on the left and Acre River as the border with Peru ++MUTE++
5. Aerial shot of Assis Brasil ++MUTE++
6. Road entrance to Assis Brasil with a sign that reads (Portuguese) “Welcome to Assis Brasil”
7. View of houses and forest
8. Various of people in a migrant shelter
9. Various of Alexander Guedes Martinez with his wife and daughter
10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alexander Guedes Martinez, Venezuelan migrant:
“What I hope to accomplish here in Brazil, which I couldn't in Peru, is to earn enough money and go back to my country so I can gather key documents I need to migrate in a better way. I do this for my daughter, so she doesn't need to experience what my Venezuelan brothers did."
11. Migrants walking up a street
12. Migrants walking towards a Brazilian customs checkpoint
13. Board showing how to fill up immigration forms
14. Customs checkpoint
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio Branco, Brazil - 22 June 2024
15. Aerial shot of Rio Branco and Acre River ++MUTE++
16. Aerial shot of Acre’s flag ++MUTE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio Branco, Brazil - 21 June 2024
17. Moon reflected on a pond
18. Letícia Mamed, Professor at the Federal University of Acre
19. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Letícia Mamed, Professor at the Federal University of Acre:
“Because of the containment of people at the U.S. border and those countries that align themselves with North American policy, migrants are being held up in Central America. This means that those migrants who try to access the global North are finding it difficult to remain in those places and are coming downward.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio Branco, Brazil - 22 June 2024
21. Immigrants’ belongings next to mattresses on a shelter’s external area
22. Man preparing a coffee
23. Immigrants lining up for breakfast distribution
24. Woman receiving loaves of bread
25. Man having breakfast while talking to others
26. External shot of immigration shelter
STORYLINE:
Dozens of migrants sleep in a mosquito-infested six-bedroom wooden shelter in the Brazilian Amazon, their dreams of a better life in the U.S. on hold because of President Joe Biden’s halt on asylum.
Migrants, police, officials and analysts say Biden’s actions have caused a wait-and-see attitude among migrants who are staying in Latin America’s biggest economy, at least for now.
Like anywhere along migrants’ routes toward hoped-for new lives, local communities are finding it hard to meet new populations’ needs.
Brazil saw waves of migrants passing through to North America in the first part of the year. There were Indians, Bengalis, Senegalese and Nigerians, among others, said Rêmullo Diniz, the coordinator of Gefron, Acre state’s police group for border operations,
When Biden said he was going to crack down, many people in those groups began staying in their countries instead of heading to Latin America, Brazilian government officials and independent analysts said.
For citizens of South American countries, it's easier. Brazil allows residents of its 10 neighboring nations to stay visa-free for up to two years.
AP Video by Lucas Dumphreys
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