Immigration
In photos: The Border Patrol stops migrants crossing the Rio Grande
Of the nearly 2,000 miles of the border, this is where the most arrests are made. Throughout the day, agents find and detain migrants; usually a Central American mother or father with a young child. They arrive disoriented and exhausted from the dangerous journey through Mexico.
"Why are you crying?" agent Marlene Castro asks a Salvadoran woman who was found by the Border Patrol close to McAllen, Texas. She says she carried her daughter for an hour in the sun, lost and panicked. After a few minutes, she explains that in Mexico she was physically assaulted and nearly raped.
Damià S. Bonmatí
This Salvadoran mother and her son crossed the Rio Grande just 10 minutes earlier, presumably helped by coyotes. Many families voluntarily surrender to agents when they see the Border Patrol. After a few days of detention, they are free to meet with relatives in other parts of the United States while they wait to go to court.
Damià S. Bonmatí
Three migrants from El Salvador walk as they approach a Border Patrol van. They are a mother and her son on one side, and an unaccompanied minor by another. They say they just met at one of the most common crossing sites: in front of Reynosa, Mexico, a few miles from McAllen, United States.
Damià S. Bonmatí
Nelson, 9, with his mother. Nearly 7 of every 10 migrants who were arrested in October for illegal entry crossed here, at the Rio Grande Valley. This profile, of a mother or father with a child, grows the most: 118% more parent-child pairs were arrested in October than a year ago, according to government data.
Damià Bonmatí
After about 15 minutes, a van arrives to take this group of 7 migrants to a temporary detention center. The vehicles usually wait in line near the river so that agents can warn drivers if they find more immigrants. Sometimes they even send buses because of the high number of Central American migrants.
Damià Bonmatí
Agent Marlene Castro finds a group of 15. Meanwhile, the radio transmitter reports 21 more migrants found in the same area. Parents are asked by the Border Patrol agent for documents.
Damià S. Bonmatí
The majority cite the multiplicity of crises in their countries when justifying their journey to the United States. They come mainly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Some say they will seek asylum, though many others express confusion about immigration processes and their next steps in the United States.
Damià S. Bonmatí
Arantza just arrived to Texas with her mother and sister from El Salvador. She carries in her hand a shabby, broken Blackberry found on the way. Tomorrow is her birthday. With her fingers, she tells us how old she'll be: 4.
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