Border refugees

Border Refugees

Under U.S. President Joe Biden, migrant camps along the U.S.-Mexico border have ballooned as most pathways to asylum have shut down.

The Biden administration is working rapidly to clear out mostly Haitian migrants from a makeshift camp that sprung up in southern Texas in recent days. At its height, some 14,000 people had converged under an international bridge to Mexico, with families hastily constructing shelters out of reeds and sticks along the banks of the Rio Grande. Food, water and supplies have been scarce for the migrants – also from Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries – as they wait for U.S. border officials to process them. By Thursday morning, U.S. officials had moved thousands of people to other locations, but around 3,600 migrants remained according to local authorities. Many hope to claim asylum in the United States after fleeing desperate situations in their homelands. Instead, hundreds have been loaded onto planes and summarily returned to Haiti, which is reeling from a political crisis and a series of natural disasters, while others have been allowed to stay in the U.S. to pursue their immigration cases. Many Haitians at the border said they first fled to countries like Chile and Brazil but decided to head north when they encountered discrimination and dwindling opportunities farther south.

Biden, a Democrat, took office in January 2021 promising to reverse many of the hardline policies of his Republican predecessor, former President Donald Trump. But Biden kept in place a sweeping public health policy, which started in March 2020 under Trump at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The policy, known as Title 42, allows many migrants caught at the border to be quickly expelled without a chance to claim asylum.

Migrants take shelter along the Del Rio International Bridge (top) at sunset as they wait to be processed after crossing the Rio Grande river into the U.S. from Ciudad Acuna in Del Rio, Texas. Adrees Latif/Reuters Migrants seeking refuge in the United States have to cross the Rio Grande river which divides the border between Ciudad Acuna and Del Rio. Many migrants have returned to Cuidad Acuna to avoid deportation by U.S. authorities. Daniel Becerril/Reuters A U.S. Border Patrol agent keeps watch (bottom right) on the banks of the Rio Grande as migrants seeking refuge into the United States cross the river. Daniel Becerril/Reuters

With most ports of entry closed to asylum seekers, thousands of desperate migrants have also been stranded in Mexico for months in dangerous border towns, like Tijuana and Reynosa. The growth of those encampments – along with the newest one in Del Rio, Texas, across from Mexico’s Ciudad Acuña – can be clearly seen in satellite imagery.

Locations of migrant encampments

CA

AZ

NM

TX

Del Rio/

Cuidad Acuna

Tijuana

MEXICO

Reynosa

Locations of migrant encampments

CA

AZ

NM

Tijuana

TX

Del Rio/

Cuidad Acuna

MEXICO

Reynosa

Locations of migrant encampments

CA

AZ

NM

Tijuana

TX

Del Rio/

Cuidad Acuna

MEXICO

Reynosa

The Del Rio camp is creating urgent challenges for the Biden administration. U.S. authorities are investigating an incident where a Border Patrol agent on horseback was filmed trying to block Haitian migrants wading back and forth across the river as they sought to bring food and supplies from Mexico to people on the U.S. side. Hundreds have now decided to stay on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande in Ciudad Acuna, trying to find shelter under tarps and cardboard boxes.

In the Tijuana encampment, Honduran migrants listen to a conversation on hygiene at the camp. Toya Sarno Jorda/Reuters In Reynosa, Central American migrants have set up in the public square after being expelled from the U.S. under Title 42. Go Nakamura/Reuters

In Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, a migrant encampment started growing in February and now has between 1,500 and 1,700 people, according to a Mexican government official, with hundreds of children and infants living in tents and under tarps sprawled out on a concrete plaza just hundreds of yards from the U.S. border. Most of the migrants there are Mexican and Central American.

Tijuana's migrant growth since 2020

US Customs and

Border Protection

USA

MEXICO

Cars waiting

to cross border

About

250 yds

Tijuana Customs

Tent city

with approx.

1,700 migrants

Area of detail

US Customs and

Border Protection

USA

Entry to Mexico

MEXICO

Cars waiting

to cross border

About

250 yds

Tijuana Customs

Tent city

with approx.

1,700 migrants

Area of detail

US Customs and

Border Protection

USA

Entry to Mexico

MEXICO

Cars waiting

to cross border

About

250 yds

Tijuana Customs

Tent city

with approx.

1,700 migrants

Area of detail

US Customs and

Border Protection

Entry to Mexico

USA

MEXICO

Cars waiting

to cross border

About

250 yds

Tijuana Customs

Tent city

with approx.

1,700 migrants

Area of detail

US Customs and

Border Protection

Entry to Mexico

USA

MEXICO

Cars waiting

to cross border

About

250 yds

Tijuana Customs

Tent city

with approx.

1,700 migrants

Area of detail

Satellite image courtesy of PlanetLabs

Reynosa

In Reynosa, just across the border from McAllen, Texas, there are currently around 2,000 mostly Central American and Haitian migrants camping out in a public plaza and hundreds more in local migrant shelters, according to humanitarian group Global Response Management. Local officials and migrant advocates say the camp is unsanitary and has drawn drug gang members looking to recruit desperate migrants as well as smugglers promising expensive illegal crossings.

April 20, 2021

July 23, 2021

McAllen, TX

McAllen, TX

USA

USA

MEXICO

MEXICO

Reynosa

Reynosa

Plaza de la

Republica

with approx.

2,000 migrants

Plaza de la

Republica

April 20, 2021

July 23, 2021

McAllen, TX

McAllen, TX

USA

USA

MEXICO

MEXICO

Reynosa

Reynosa

Plaza de la

Republica

Plaza de la

Republica

with approx.

2,000 migrants

April 20, 2021

July 23, 2021

McAllen, TX

McAllen, TX

USA

USA

MEXICO

MEXICO

Reynosa

Reynosa

Plaza de la

Republica

Plaza de la

Republica

with approx.

2,000 migrants

April 20, 2021

July 23, 2021

McAllen, TX

McAllen, TX

USA

USA

MEXICO

MEXICO

Reynosa

Reynosa

Plaza de la

Republica

Plaza de la

Republica

with approx.

2,000 migrants

Satellite image courtesy of PlanetLabs

The first migrant camps on the Mexican side of the border appeared when the Trump administration implemented a controversial policy known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, in 2019. Under the policy, asylum seekers were given U.S. court dates and then sent back to Mexico to wait for months, sometimes years, as their hearings progressed. Biden ended the MPP program early in his presidency, saying in a press conference it led to people “sitting on the edge of the Rio Grande in muddy circumstances with not enough to eat.” The largest Trump-era camp in Matamoros, Mexico, was dismantled after the Biden administration processed the majority of those with pending MPP cases into the United States to await their hearings.

Title 8 vs. Title 42 and Zero Tolerance

Title 8 immigration processing was standard practice at the border before Title 42 was put in place and is still being applied to some migrants who are not eligible for expulsion. It allows migrants seeking humanitarian protection to plead their case before an immigration judge, a process that can take years because of large backlogs in the court system. 

Under Title 42, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control order, the government can rapidly expel migrants for public health reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most are not given a chance to apply for U.S. asylum. 

‘Zero Tolerance’ refers to a policy implemented during the Trump administration which called for the criminal prosecution of border crossers and led to the separation of thousands of parents from their children before it was ended in the face of public pressure and legal challenges. 

Single Adults

The number of single adults arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border has steadily risen this year. In August alone, border patrol encountered close to 100,000 single adults, who made up around half of all apprehensions that month.

Migrants processed under Title 8
Migrants expelled under Title 42

Jan 2019

MPP begins

120k

June 2019

MPP expands

to entire border

100

80

March 2020

Title 42 begins

60

40

20

0

Oct. 2017

July 2021

Jan 2021

Biden takes office

120k

Jan 2019

MPP begins

100

June 2019

MPP expands

to entire border

80

60

March 2020

Title 42 begins

40

20

0

April - July 2018

Zero tolerance program

Jan 2021

Biden takes office

July 2021

Oct. 2017

120k

Jan 2019

MPP begins

100

June 2019

MPP expands

to entire border

80

60

March 2020

Title 42 begins

40

20

0

April - July 2018

Zero tolerance program

Oct. 2017

July 2021

Jan 2021

Biden takes office

Recidivism

Under Title 42, nearly all single adults are rapidly expelled to Mexico after crossing the border. Some people say they have tried crossing multiple times. U.S. officials say Title 42 has led to increased recidivism.

PERCENT OF MIGRANTS CROSSING

BORDER MULTIPLE TIMES

March 2020

Title 42 begins

Through

June 2021

34%

30%

25

20

Jan 2019

MPP begins

15

10

5

0

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

PERCENT OF MIGRANTS CROSSING

BORDER MULTIPLE TIMES

March 2020

Title 42 begins

Through

June 2021

34%

30%

25

20

Jan 2019

MPP begins

15

10

5

0

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

March 2020

Title 42 begins

PERCENT OF MIGRANTS CROSSING

BORDER MULTIPLE TIMES

Through

June 2021

34%

30%

25

20

Jan 2019

MPP begins

15

10

5

0

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Families

The number of families coming to the border grew slowly throughout 2020 and began increasing more rapidly in January 2021 after President Biden took office. However, the number of families apprehended this year has remained consistently lower than the same period in 2019, the last time there was a major jump in apprehensions.

The U.S. government has been expelling fewer migrant families over time as some local Mexican authorities refused to take back younger children, arguing they did not have the capacity to accept them.

Migrants processed under Title 8
Migrants expelled under Title 42

Jan 2019

MPP begins

120k

June 2019

MPP expands

to entire border

100

80

March 2020

Title 42 begins

60

40

20

0

Jan 2021

Biden takes office

July 2021

Oct. 2017

120k

Jan 2019

MPP begins

100

June 2019

MPP expands

to entire border

80

60

March 2020

Title 42 begins

40

20

0

April - July 2018

Zero tolerance program

Jan 2021

Biden takes office

Oct. 2017

July 2021

120k

Jan 2019

MPP begins

100

June 2019

MPP expands

to entire border

80

60

March 2020

Title 42 begins

40

20

0

April - July 2018

Zero tolerance program

Oct. 2017

July 2021

Jan 2021

Biden takes office

Unaccompanied minors

In February, President Biden exempted unaccompanied children from the Title 42 expulsion policy and his administration grappled early on with a large spike in kids found to be crossing the border alone. There are now thousands of unaccompanied children in U.S. government custody waiting to be reunited with parents, relatives or other sponsors in the United States. Some parents, distraught after their families’ expulsions to Mexico, have resorted to sending their children across by themselves, in the hopes they can find safety on the other side.

Migrants processed under Title 8
Migrants expelled under Title 42

Jan 2019

MPP begins

120k

June 2019

MPP expands

to entire border

100

80

March 2020

Title 42 begins

60

40

20

0

Jan 2021

Biden takes office

Oct. 2017

July 2021

120k

Jan 2019

MPP begins

100

June 2019

MPP expands

to entire border

80

60

March 2020

Title 42 begins

40

20

0

April - July 2018

Zero tolerance program

Jan 2021

Biden takes office

Oct. 2017

July 2021

120k

Jan 2019

MPP begins

100

June 2019

MPP expands

to entire border

80

60

March 2020

Title 42 begins

40

20

0

April - July 2018

Zero tolerance program

Jan 2021

Biden takes office

Oct. 2017

July 2021

Note

Drone footage by Adrees Latif / Reuters

Source

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Edited by

Chris Canipe and Karishma Singh