A Cuban woman is sexually assaulted by a coyote at the US border.

Many women have been victims of rape, sexual trafficking, and kidnapping in the context of the Cuban migration crisis.

Migrantes en la frontera de Texas (imagen de referencia) © Twitter / Todd Bensman
Migrants at the Texas border (reference image)Photo © Twitter / Todd Bensman

A people trafficker allegedly sexually assaulted a Cuban migrant this week at the Mexico-Texas border, local media reported.

In an interview on Super Channel 12, District Prosecutor of Court 293, Roberto Serna, revealed that at the beginning of the week, a coyote was captured by the state of Texas for being involved in the sexual assault of a migrant from the island.

The incident would have occurred while the woman was in a safe house on the border.

According to Serna, when a person has committed the crime of sexual abuse against a woman, whether an immigrant or not, the penalty they face, provided all the evidence points to them, ranges from probation, five years, up to a lifetime.

He said that in the state of Texas, people are punished without any distinction.

The officers working on the investigation search through the existing evidence, analyze it to subsequently formulate the charges, and at the appropriate time present it to the court, explained Serna.

He ensures that the sentence imposed on the responsible party depends on the severity of the crime, as well as various factors, such as DNA samples.

It is necessary to wait for DNA results if the report is rape; or if the victim only experienced touching, then there would be lesser sanctions, he commented.

"Everything is taken into account because it could be that the victim lied in order to be favored by the authorities in their immigration status, in short, several points that must be reviewed," the judge noted.

Many women have been victims of rape, kidnappings, and human trafficking in the context of the Cuban migration crisis, during their journey towards the United States border.

Last May, Mexican authorities dismantled a human trafficking network that was operating in five bars in Quintana Roo. Among the victims were a Cuban migrant and four Venezuelan women who were being sexually exploited.

Days after that event, two other Cuban women who were subjected to sexual exploitation in Quintana Roo, Mexico, were rescued in a joint operation by the State Attorney General's Office and the National Guard.

In February, the feminist organization Caminantas, which assists migrant women in Mexico, warned about an increase in cases of trafficking of Cuban, Colombian, and Venezuelan women.

Many women arrive in Mexican territory with the promise of a job or after having built a romantic relationship online with Mexican men who have financially supported them or their families for several months or even years, as stated by María Ángel Vielma, a member of Caminantas, in an interview with the EFE news agency.

Meanwhile, the Cuban migration crisis continues unabated. A total of 17,563 Cubans entered the United States through its borders in the last June, according to data revealed this Monday by the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP).

That figure, although high, represents the lowest income in the first nine months of the US fiscal year (FY2024), which began on October 1st.

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