Cuban illegal immigrants are surging in large number across the Texas-Mexico border — more than 40,000 have made the long trip to the United States.

KRGV in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, is reporting that Cuban immigrants are using the Rio Grande Valley’s ports of entry to enter the United States.

These southern routes, like the Hidalgo International Bridge in Hidalgo, Texas, near McAllen, are one of the passageways used by these immigrants.

These Cubans use Ecuador as a gateway to travel to the United States. It is the only country in Latin America that allows Cubans to enter without a Visa.

KRGV reported that Ecuador says it is now shutting the door on the Cuban illegal immigrants. “They are requiring presenting some evidence to travel to Ecuador,” Yordanka Ramirez Pupo told the border media outlet.

Ramirez Pupo made the 2,000-mile trip but said she was robbed along the way. She said, “I had a gun pointed at me. They took our money. They took our phones. It’s been very hard.” She made the trip by going through Ecuador.

The woman said she has received asylum and will look for work soon.

Cubans are now reported to have to get the permission of an Ecuadorian diplomat to enter Ecuador.

Officials in Ecuador are reported to have changed the policy on crossing without Visas after countries in South America and Central America have become affected by immigration. These officials are also reported to say that the U.S. should reconsider their existing Cuban asylum laws.

Professor Arturo Lopez Levy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, told the local media outlet that the number of Cubans coming into the U.S. should slow down in April or May but that there are more than 7,000 Cubans in a bottleneck. They have been stopped just north at the Nicaraguan border.

Cuban refugee Pedro Blanco Fleites said “People will keep trying because they’re desperate. They’ll try to get here on boats.”

Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. Follow her on Twitter@LanaShadwick2