Voices Of Asylum Seekers On The Texas Border: May Trump Lose

JAKARTA - Refugees in a makeshift camp across the Brownsville, Texas border gather to anxiously watch the results of the United States (US) General Election. They are not US citizens but hold a lot of hope for Joe Biden's victory.

One of the refugees, Oscar Borjas, an asylum seeker from Honduras who has lived in this cold and unsanitary camp for a year is among the tens of thousands of migrants whose lives have been changed due to the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Now he prayed that Joe Biden would win the presidency. "We all hope for Biden," he said, quoted by Reuters on Wednesday, November 4.

Borjas plans to hold an election "night watch" on the stairs next to the camp's cell phone charging station. This is because hundreds of asylum seekers in the camp live in tents without electricity.

"Biden's wife came here to Matamoros and promised to help us, and that's the hope we hold," he said.

From Tijuana to Matamoros, asylum seekers stranded along the border as a result of Trump's policies requiring them to remain in Mexico, hold their breath as Americans head for the polls.

More than ten interviewees said they believed Biden's victory would provide opportunities for people on the Mexican border to pursue their asylum.

"I'm praying here. I'm not religious but I pray that Trump loses," said Yuri Gonzalez, a Cuban asylum seeker who spent more than a year and a half stranded in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.

"A man who spent four years separating families and inciting racist violence does not deserve to be president," he added, speaking while cutting hair at the barber where he worked.

The Trump administration has enforced a series of overlapping policies, including 'Stay in Mexico' that make it nearly impossible to apply for asylum on the US southern border. The government says these measures have succeeded in restricting immigration to the US and preventing bogus asylum claims.

Some of the migrants interviewed were well aware that Joe Biden promised to end his 'Stay in Mexico' program on his first day in office. But other migrants are unsure of the promise.

"I don't know all the policy proposals from other candidates who are not Trump, but I know he (Biden) doesn't think the same way," said Santos, a Honduran asylum seeker. Santos said he encouraged all members of his family in the US to vote against Trump.

Many asylum seekers, including Santos, expressed anger not only at the 'Stay in Mexico' program but at other immigration-related issues, particularly those that led to family separation.

"I came here alone because I was afraid the same thing could happen to our family," said Santos, explaining that while he was worried about the safety of his children in Honduras, he was also worried that they might be in US custody if separated from him.