GOYABEAN
.950 JDJ
Indigenous families from the Guatemalan department of Petén are struggling through the winter in Kingston, so much that some are starving, according to numerous volunteers and immigrants themselves.
Disorganization and a lack of Spanish-speaking volunteers among local non-profit groups is apparently compounding their plight.
The families, who all hail from one village outside of the northern Guatemala city of San Luis, have been trickling into Kingston at a rate of about two or three families per week while they await word on their recently-started asylum cases, according to multiple sources.
"I don't know have a way to pay my rent, or pay for food," said 'Alberto,' an asylum seeker from Petén who came here with his 13-year-old son.
Several who have made the trip to Kingston from Petén have told Spectrum News the families usually split up (temporarily) to be better able to afford a "coyote" to guide them the 1,800 miles from Petén to the U.S. Coyotes typically charge thousands per person, per trip.
Seeking Jobs, Asylum Seekers Starving in Kingston why don't you house and feed them in your compound