Brayan Pinto, an 18-year-old teenager from Venezuela, wasn’t allowed to take his small white dog Brandy to the United States. On Sunday, Pinto hugged his pet, who was a gift from his mother before her death, before leaving her at the United States-Mexico border.
“She has been with me for two years. She has even served me as an emotional support dog. Today when we reached the US, they (American authorities) told me I need to leave her behind because she cannot cross to the other side with me,” Pinto said.
“They do a lot to help us. They cannot help the puppies too. My aunt is sad as well. We do not know what to do, because we do not want to abandon her here. She has been with us through Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela,” Pinto told news agency Reuters.
He handed the dog, a mix of Pekingese and toy poodle, to Carlos Sanchez, a Mexican photographer at the border. Sanchez promised Pinto he would take care of the dog.
Venezuelan migrants crossed the border between the Mexican city Ciudad Juarez and the United States’ city of El Paso to surrender to the US Border Patrol, hoping to obtain asylum.
Between January and August this year, Mexico received 8,282 asylum applications from Venezuelans, according to the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR).
“My brother crossed, and when he passed the fence, he handed himself to the immigration authorities. They are supposedly giving humanitarian asylum. The United States government is granting humanitarian asylum. Many people come with that idea, mainly Venezuelans say they have humanitarian asylum,” Joel Guevara, who also crossed the border, said.
“Many of us are running away from dictatorships, from crisis. In my case, I live in Venezuela, and I am running away from political persecution,” Joel added.
