Border Emergency: Inside "The Migrant Hotel"
In the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras, the Hotel Santa Rosa sits just three and a half blocks from the crossing into the United States. But the promise of a better life in the U.S. may seem miles away for the migrants filling the 25 rooms at the hotel.
Enrique Acevedo traveled to Piedras Negras for his new 60 Minutes+ report on the recent rise in immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border. He met Donley and Esley Boden at Hotel Santa Rosa, where they and their two children had stayed for a month and a half after they had traveled nearly a month from Honduras.
Hurricanes Eta and Iota had destroyed everything they owned, including their home, and Donley and Esley lost their jobs in the pandemic.
"We want to provide for the children," Donley told Acevedo. "That's the most important thing, and that's why we left the country."
As they wait for the border to reopen for immigration, Donley asks for money on the street to pay for the room that runs about $15 a night.
"We pay for the hotel, and we also feed the children," Donley said.
Acevedo speaks with other migrants for his report, including people who've recently made it into the United States and a family who was turned away. He also met with the mayors of two towns on each side of the border that are bearing the brunt of what one immigration expert has called a humanitarian crisis.
See the report on 60 Minutes+, streaming now only on Paramount+.
