Many of the migrants trying to reach the United States are traveling with young children. At the encampment beneath the Brownsville-Matamoros International Bridge, two young kids eat snacks brought by a volunteer. (Photo: Emily Green/VICE News)
Want asylum? Time to pay
The Trump administration has implored migrant parents to present themselves and their children at ports of entry to “enter legally and safely” rather than crossing the border illegally. This message took on new urgency after the deaths of two migrant children in December who crossed the border illegally with their parents. But the metering system has exposed migrants to extortion from both Mexican officials and cartels, which have divided up the border into their own areas of dominance.“The U.S. policies of not quickly and effectively processing asylum seekers is feeding the ground for corruption in Mexico”
A 16-year-old girl cleans clothes by hand at the encampment beneath the Brownsville - Matamoros International Bridge. The family fled Honduras because her father was physically abusive. The family wants to apply for asylum in the U.S. (Photo: Emily Green/VICE News)
Cartels and corrupt officials
In Reynosa, around 30 adult migrants and 10 children are living on the bridge, waiting their turn to apply for asylum in the U.S. They routinely live on the bridge for up to 10 days, leaving only to go to the bathroom, for fear of losing their turn. (Photo: Emily Green/VICE
“The cartels control almost all migrant movement in Reynosa. When it comes to migrants crossing in-between ports of entry, and to some extent migrants crossing at the bridge, very little happens there without the cartel’s approval,” said Ellie Ezzell, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin who is investigating migratory patterns along the border.The Mexican Institute of Migration has taken some steps to combat the corruption. At the end of February, it dismissed two officials — one in Reynosa and one in Matamoros — that many migrants told VICE News were the ringleaders.“The cartels control almost all migrant movement in Reynosa”
“You guys know how things work here?”
At the McAllen–Hidalgo–Reynosa International Bridge, kids play with each late into the night. (Photo: Emily Green/VICE
A migrant washes her hair at an encampment in Matamoros beneath the bridge connecting the city to Brownsville, Texas. The encampment arose after the Trump administration started limiting the number of asylum seekers it accepts at ports of entry to just a day of that, if that. Migrants in Matamoros routinely wait a month or more for their turn to apply. (Photo: Emily Green/VICE News)