As Biden Prepares to Take Office, a New Rush at the Border
The president-elect has promised a more humane border policy. But devastated economies and natural disasters in Latin America have fueled a spike in migration that could make pledges hard to keep.
Francisco Velasquez, a young Guatemalan who lost his home in a hurricane, hoped to work in Florida but was arrested by Border Patrol agents and returned to Mexico.Credit.Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times
SASABE, Ariz. By the time the Border Patrol spotted the two migrants in a tangle of shrubs on a frigid December morning, they had been meandering aimlessly in the desert for six days. They had lost their way on the final leg of a monthlong journey from Guatemala, encountering only herds of javelinas, lone coyotes and skin-piercing cactuses as they staggered north. Exhausted, thirsty and cold, they did not resist arrest.