BROOKS COUNTY, Texas — There’s a small group of Central American women who are making their way across the United States.
It’s an effort to not only find their missing loved ones, but to bring attention to the plight of the people in those countries who are forced to try and migrate to the United States.
These women are from places like Guatemala and Honduras, each holding a photo of their loved one who has not been heard from in 10 years. Some of these missing migrants are believed to have disappeared in Brooks County.
The family members of the missing migrants showed up to the South Texas Human Rights Center with a simple plea to find their relatives.
The women have a chant which says they will search East, West, North and South to find their missing family member.
Karen Morales is from Honduras and hasn’t seen her brother since 2012, as he was about to cross into the U.S. near Laredo.
“We are hoping (they can) help us find with DNA so we can find our family (members). We hope not to find them dead, we are looking to find them alive and I thank the sheriff here and all the people who are helping us.” Morales said.
Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez said the first thing he’s going to do is offer the women a chance to look through the photos of his book of the dead collection.
The folders contain the sheriff department’s documentation of the bodies found in Brooks County since 2009. He’s also ready to get the women into their DNA system to see if a match can be found.
"A lot of it has to do with what they can do. Them providing their DNA and that’s what we’re going to do for them and then submit,” Martinez said.
Those who put this trip together are also hoping to meet up with several Congressmen in Washington D.C. They are hoping to get them to change foreign policy, which they blame for causing the huge number of migrants who are coming to our country.
In Honduras there is the brother of the president who is in a jail in New York and during that trial the name of the President of Honduras was mentioned, but the US government continues sending money to Honduras.” Roxana Bendezu, Migrant Roots Media Trip Organizer, said.
"How is this country dealing with a humanitarian crisis of one, people dying, and people missing. So, we need to publicize, we need to get that information out to the public,” Eddie Canales, Director of South Texas Human Rights Center said.
These women say they plan on coming back each year. They want to bring attention to the plight of migrants as well as continuing the search for their missing family members.