"Greg Abbott lanza campaña de vallas publicitarias en México y Centroamérica: ‘Si cruzas ilegalmente a Texas, lo lamentarás para siempre’" | U.S. | EL PAÍS English

“Peligro adelante. Si cruzas a Texas de manera ilegal, lo lamentarás para siempre.” “¿Cuánto pagaste para que violaran a tu hija? Muchas niñas son víctimas de abusos por parte de los coyotes que contratas.” Con mensajes como estos, exhibidos en carteles en México y países de América Central, el gobernador republicano de Texas, Greg Abbott, busca persuadir a los miles de migrantes que intentan ingresar a los Estados Unidos de manera irregular para que “detengan su travesía antes de que comience.” Los carteles, dijo Abbott el jueves en una conferencia de prensa para anunciar la nueva estrategia, servirán para advertir a los migrantes sobre los peligros a los que se exponen al cruzar la frontera, especialmente las agresiones sexuales contra mujeres y niños: “Tu esposa e hija pagarán por el viaje con sus cuerpos. Los coyotes engañan. No pongas en riesgo a tu familia,” advierte otro de los mensajes.

“This is tough medicine, but we don’t want any more rape trees in Texas,” Abbott said, alluding to the practice of sexually assaulting migrants and hanging their undergarments on a tree as trophies. “For migrants who are about to cross the border illegally, we have billboards with warning messages […] from Matamoros to Juárez and in many other places in between,” the governor said during a press conference held on Thursday at a ranch in the border city of Eagle Pass, surrounded by billboards that will be part of the campaign. To ensure that as many migrants as possible get the message, the campaign will be run in Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, and other languages and dialects. The governor has not offered an exact figure on the cost of this campaign, but said it will be about “one hundred thousand dollars.”

“The message is: don’t risk making a dangerous trip only to be arrested and deported,” Abbott said. This new security strategy is in addition to Operation Lone Star, which began in March 2021 and which, according to data released this week by the governor’s office, has resulted in the detention of more than 529,000 migrants without visas or other lawful documents to enter the United States, including 49,400 “criminal arrests.” The Republican governor has said that he will work closely with Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, to continue along these lines: “We will continue to aggressively arrest immigrants who enter Texas illegally and work with the Trump administration to deport them.” Texas has already offered a tract of land to the president-elect to act as a base of operations for the mass deportations that the Republican intends to carry out.