Rising numbers of Ecuadorians hurt by pandemic head to US
By CLAUDIA TORRENS
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — An extraordinary number of Ecuadorians has been coming to the United States — often to New York. They surpassed El Salvadorans as the fourth-largest nationality encountered by U.S. authorities on the Mexican border, behind Mexicans, Guatemalans and Hondurans. That also has led to increasing numbers of Ecuadorians vanishing along the perilous journey. The rise appears to be rooted partly in the pandemic’s devastation of Ecuador’s economy. It’s also due to a policy that let Ecuadorians enter Mexico legally without a visa. But that requirement is now being reimposed amid the sudden leap in migration.
