“I would rather be poor in the US than in Mexico”; compatriots unconcerned about Trump deportations

Tucson, Arizona.— Despite the warning of mass deportations by the new president of the United States, donald trump, migrants undocumented Those looking for work on street corners are skeptical and affirm that “It takes them longer to kick me out than it takes to get me back,” and that “the one to fear is God, not Trump.”
Arturo Torres, a Mexican who came to the American Union and has been deported several times, he waits, since 5:00 in the morning, along with four other undocumented migrants on a corner in the suburbs of this city for someone to hire them to do some work, he affirms that in USA there is also poverty.
However, the migrant originating from Sonora He says: “If I were poor in Mexico, I would rather be poor here.”
Read also: Mass deportations in the US: Trump administration arrests 538 migrants; deportation flights begin
“But what are you going to fear? The one you have to fear is God, not Trump. That (the deportations) is psychological. It’s fine for me, to begin with. They take longer to kick me out than to get me back.
“From being poor in Mexico to here, I prefer to be poor here. What difference does there make? Well, here you earn better, although it takes a little while to earn one, two, three salaries, but when you compare with those in Mexico, and maybe here there are more opportunities.”
The minutes pass and still no person has stopped in their truck to hire them. The cold continues.
José Méndez, a honduran migrantalso shows his skepticism that the deportations that Trump has promised will affect him.
Read also: Mass deportations: US military planes arrive in Guatemala with 79 expelled
He details that in 2014 he was deported from Houston, Texas, but months later he returned to the United States, but now to live and work in Tucson.
“Many people think that being here in the United States is very easy, that dollars fall from the sky and that is not true. Here life is very expensive, you have to pay bills (bills) for rent, telephone, food, school. You go to the market and buy four bags of groceries and you already lose 100 dollars. Life is very hard here too.” comments.
In front of the migrantsa couple of homeless people place a pair of plastic sheets on the roof of their tent located on the sidewalk to resist the cold that does not let up.
Read also: Municipalities without infrastructure to receive migrants, say councilors, senators and activists; there are no bilingual schools
“I believe that not even in Mexico nor in Honduras We see that people are like this. There you have a little dirt house, but you have your little house, even if it is made of adobe, you have a plot of land. There are even mangoes and guavas and coconuts that even fall and no one picks them up,” he says without taking his eyes off the couple.
The clock continues counting down the seconds and no one stops to hire workers. But “as the saying goes,” says another migrant who avoids giving his name, “hope is the last thing that is lost.”
In order not to make the wait tedious, the migrants talk about various topics, from soccer, family problems and these days the arrival of Trump again to the presidency in the United States.
But they reiterate their skepticism that the raids will occur, since “Trump had already said that the first time he was there (as president), but nothing happened. What’s more, he deported more Obama that trump. Obama deported me in 2014, but I returned later. That’s why I know nothing will happen.”
Read also: Local deputies in Tamaulipas urge that migrants be returned to their countries; “They can’t stay here, it’s that easy”
After waiting for more than six hours, the migrants gradually decide to give up waiting to be hired that day because they point out that it is already late.
Thus, migrants decide to go home with the hope that tomorrow someone will hire them and have an income that will help them.
It’s January, the cold continues and this is how the first days of the government of donald trump in this land that was once Mexican territory.