SOMERTON â After two years of waiting in Mexico and four days of detention in the U.S., Indira Diaz Cortina, 22, an asylum seeker from Cuba, found herself in a parking lot last month, waiting for COVID-19 test results.
She and 37 others were dropped off by Customs and Border Protection agents at a makeshift testing clinic. She had no change of clothes, no shoelaces, no money and no way to contact family members or friends with whom she hopes to reunite.
But Diaz Cortina wasnât complaining. U.S. authorities finally allowed her entry into the United States with the right to seek asylum. The COVID-19 test was required before she met with church and nonprofit organization volunteers, who would help her connect with loved ones and find a place to stay pending her asylum hearing.
Asylum seekers dropped off in towns that have few resources get help from nonprofits
Taylor OâConnor/Cronkite Borderlands Project
By: Taylor OâConnor - Cronkite Borderlands Project
Posted at 5:07 PM, May 04, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-04 20:09:17-04
SOMERTON â After two years of waiting in Mexico and four days of detention in the U.S., Indira Diaz Cortina, 22, an asylum seeker from Cuba, found herself in a parking lot last month, waiting for COVID-19 test results.
She and 37 others were dropped off by Customs and Border Protection agents at a makeshift testing clinic. She had no change of clothes, no shoelaces, no money and no way to contact family members or friends with whom she hopes to reunite.
Asylum seekers dropped off in towns that have few resources get help from nonprofits
Asylum seekers dropped off in towns that have few resources get help from nonprofits
A family from Brazil, seeking asylum in the U.S., prepares to board a chartered bus that will take them from Somerton to the Casa Alitas shelter in Tucson. This family was fortunate: Men and women routinely are separated during processing at the border. (Photo by Kamilah Williams/Cronkite Borderlands Project)
May 3, 2021
SOMERTON – After two years of waiting in Mexico and four days of detention in the U.S., Indira Diaz Cortina, 22, an asylum seeker from Cuba, found herself in a parking lot last month, waiting for COVID-19 test results.