Portraits for US/Mexico Border Migrant Families

Hello friends and supporters. This is our report for August 2025. 

Our director went to the border for the third time in May. She was there for roughly 3 weeks meeting with migrant families and learning about the situations along the border. She spent most of her time between El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. But she did also go to New Mexico and a small border town between Douglas, Arizona and Agua Prieta, Mexico. 

The border shelters in the US seem to have shuttered. The shelters still open on the Mexico side are not as full as in previous years. 

After talking to numerous families and community members, the main updates are that a lot of people are too scared to make the trek to the border now. They know there aren't any available appointments to legally seek asylum. 

Of those families who made the trek when the Trump Administration took back over, they spent their entire savings and risked a lot to come. When they arrived and tried to legally seek asylum at ports of entry, they found out that it isn't an option any longer. Many stayed for months in hopes that things would change. As people started to realize America was not an option, they had to find ways to make money again to start their journeys back to their home countries where violence and poverty still exists. 

It's a sad situation all the way around. She mostly saw women and children at the shelters. Husbands were trying to find work somewhere. It felt helpless. 

She heard stories about families escaping cartels only to be kidnapped along the way to the US/Mexico border. Now they are traumatized and at the border and unsure of what to do. So they are in a limbo. 

We hope to go back again soon. Meeting the families, hearing their stories, and taking their photographs was an important project to us. 

Thank you for your continued support.