Amid family-separation crisis, asylum seekers at the border face long waits, few options
Source: AZ Central
But she didn't try to cross the border illegally, where until Wednesday, the Trump administration had been separating children and prosecuting parents as part of a zero-tolerance policy intended to deter illegal immigration.
Instead, Nieto Romero did what the Trump administration has been telling families seeking asylum to do: Go to official ports of entry. She arrived at the Nogales border crossing on June 12. But when she presented herself to U.S. border officers from the Mexican side, she and her children were turned away and told to come back later.
On Wednesday, the same day President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending the practice of separating children from parents, Nieto Romero was still waiting, along with dozens of other asylum seekers who have arrived at the Nogales port only to be turned away.
The area has begun to resemble a makeshift refugee camp. There are blankets on the concrete sidewalk where families lie, and sheets hung over a chain-link fence to block the afternoon sun. Volunteers have delivered coloring books and puzzles for the children along with black plastic bags filled with stuffed animals and other toys.
In Tijuana on Wednesday, 20 women and more than 30 children were staying at Movimiento Juventud 2000, a migrant shelter, waiting to ask for asylum.
Read more: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2018/06/20/asylum-seekers-face-long-waits-slow-processing-border/719670002/
In the past, asylum seekers arriving at the Nogales border crossing were typically processed within 24 hours, she said.
But since May 12, she has noticed a significant slowdown in the number of asylum seekers being processed by U.S. border officers at the Nogales port, to about three daily
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