Asylum

This is the scene on the Paso del Norte international bridge leading from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico to El Paso, Texas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stand on guard, families wait, children sleep, pedestrians hurry by at rush hour.

Seeking asylum is not against the law. 

Both U.S. and international law dictate that noncitizens arriving at our borders have a right to apply for asylum and other forms of protection, yet CBP been routinely turning them away, telling noncitizens to wait because of a need for space and a lack of resources to process them. 

Some wait for days, some longer, waiting to request asylum and enter the United States.

Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. November 2018.