US-bound migrants wilt under extreme heat: ‘the sun is too strong’
- The heat is proving a new enemy for migrants from Latin America who already face risky river crossings and gangs that abuse them on their path to the US
In the Mexican desert near the US border, security forces are on alert after a man was found dead from heatstroke on the journey to what he hoped would be a better life in North America.
The 45-year-old Mexican man’s body was found buried among sand and bushes under the merciless sun, a week after a woman died from dehydration in the northern state of Chihuahua, where temperatures are over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
Migrants from Latin America already face risky river crossings, wild animals and violent criminal gangs that extort, kidnap and abuse them on their path to the United States.
The heat is proving a new enemy for migrants exposed to the elements.
The Mexican government on Thursday reported 155 deaths associated with high temperatures, with 30 in the past week alone.
“It’s too hot, I am a little dehydrated since the temperature doesn’t go down and it’s 43, 44 or 45 degrees,” said Dioner Jose Romero, a 25-year-old Venezuelan migrant.
His compatriot Nelson Ramos, at a Catholic Church shelter in border city Ciudad Juarez, said he was used to high temperatures, but “the sun is too strong … I feel a little suffocated.”
