/ Modified may 19, 2023 5:21 p.m.

Migrants line up at Nogales port of entry, hoping to seek asylum

Following the end of Title 42, migrants in Nogales, Sonora, wait day and night by the port of entry in hopes they can ask for asylum in the U.S.

migrants in line in Nogales Staff with the Kino Border Initiative bring migrants breakfast while they wait in line at the Nogales port of entry.
Danyelle Khmara

Dozens of migrants are waiting for days at the port of entry in Nogales hoping they’ll get a chance to ask for asylum in the U.S.

Migrants in Nogales, Sonora, had hoped they would be able to seek asylum in the U.S. following last week’s end of Title 42, the public health policy that allowed border officials to quickly expel migrants from the country.

But many say, for them, nothing has changed. Like Axel, who has been waiting at the port with his wife since Sunday morning. The couple is from Guerrero, a Southern Mexican state that is experiencing high levels of violence.

Axel says he hoped when Title 42 ended, something would change. But it hasn’t, and he feels there is nothing else he can do.

“We were hoping for a change. But honestly, things are the same. There’s nothing we can do,” he said in Spanish.

Dozens of families, many with small children, wait by the port of entry day and night. Staff with the Kino Border Initiative are bringing two meals a day and offering some mental health services.

The number of people being processed for asylum at the port, who don’t already have an appointment, are minimal, says the nonprofit’s executive director Joanna Williams. She is concerned families could be out there waiting for weeks.

“The people who are waiting out in the physical line at the port of entry, are doing so because they are trying every channel that they can think of to try and access protection in the U.S.,” she said.

MORE: Border, News
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona