Why Roma migrants from Europe are taking rafts from Mexico to enter the U.S.

FILE PHOTO: Asylum-seeking migrants from Romania sit along railway tracks as they await to be transported by the U.S. border patrol after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico on a raft in La Joya, Texas, U.S., May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

ROMA, Texas (Reuters) - Among the hundreds of Central American migrants crossing the Rio Grande river daily on rafts from Mexico to Texas, dozens stood out on a recent day. They were generally taller and some wore skirts, stylish shoes and tracksuits, while many of the other migrants wore T-shirts, pants and jeans.

U.S. border patrol officers who apprehended them near the river tried to speak to them in Spanish. There was a pause as some of the border crossers explained in broken English that they were Romanians, a Reuters photographer said.