AP, CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico
Nearly 200 families on Saturday gathered along a stretch of the US-Mexico border for heartfelt, but brief, reunions with loved ones they had not seen for years because they live in opposite countries.
Tears flowed and people embraced as Mexican families were allowed to reunite for a few minutes at the border with relatives who migrated to the US. Adults and children passed over the Rio Grande to meet with their loved ones.
This year, the annual event organized by an immigrant rights advocacy group happened three days before tomorrow’s US presidential election, the months-long campaigns of which have focused heavily on immigration and border security.
Families separated due to migration embrace on the Rio Grande at the US-Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Saturday, during a brief annual reunification meeting called “Hugs, Not Walls.
Photo: Reuters
It also took place under increased security, the Network in Defense of the Rights of Migrants said.
“We did not have barbed wire, we did not have so many soldiers deployed in our community,” network director Fernando Garcia said, highlighting the security changes that the border has underwent since the reunions began last decade. “The barbed wire had to be opened so that the families could have this event.”
Garcia said he expects migration into the US to continue regardless of who wins tomorrow’s election.
Ana Laura Munoz hugs her son Ian Munoz, from whom she was separated due to migration, during a brief reunification meeting called “Hugs, Not Walls” on the Rio Grande at the US-Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Saturday.
Photo: Reuters
Family reunions would continue, too, he added.
“Deportation policy, border policy, immigration policy, is separating families in an extraordinary way and is deeply impacting these families,” he told reporters ahead of the event.
