DORAL, Fla. – After the Supreme Court ruled that Title 42 remain in effect Wednesday, thousands of Venezuelan migrants remained in political limbo after being stuck in Mexico and other international areas.
“Hell on earth” is how migrants described the multi-day trek through the muddy and dangerous Darien Gap in the Panamanian jungle.
Gilber Castillo says he saw badly decomposing bodies on the way and provided new footage of his journey from October to Local 10 News.
Castillo is one of the faces of the thousands of migrants impacted by Washington’s fluctuating immigration policies.
Immigration attorney Wilfredo Allen told Local 10 News that immigration authorities mostly used Title 42 to expel Central Americans.
“There’s no real plan of how to deal with the border,” said Allen.
Without it, Allen estimates the number of migrants entering the country would double.
“I think the Supreme Court has been a big help to the administration because the administration continues to say, I work to eliminate title 42, but the Supreme Court says it can continue until litigation below it is finished,” he said.
In October, the administration expanded Title 42 to include Venezuelans who would be expelled to Mexico.
For many Venezuelan migrants like Castillo already on the way, the ruling came as a shock.
Castillo said he’s been waiting in Mexico ever since, hoping authorities lift Title 42 so he can enter the U.S. and work to provide for his family back in Venezuela.
Venezuelans in Doral told Local 10 News’ Cody Weddle that they know people like Castillo who remain in limbo in Mexico.
“I think the government have to make a new policy. They have to revise all the laws that they have been doing about all the people that is coming to the United States,” said Leonardo Romero.