Would-be immigrants see hope in re-opened US border
Those illegal crossings are high, says University of San Diego School of Political Science director David Shirk, because there is no legitimate route.
"By restricting ... crossing for asylum purposes, what US border policies have done is to create a very, very large and desperate population of people waiting on the Mexican side," he said.
Many are "trying to wait their turn, but finding that the length of time is too long".
"IF WE WAIT ... WE GET KILLED"For Margarita, waiting was never an option.
She and her husband Luis and their two children fled their native Bogota after being threatened by members of the FARC, Colombia's main armed rebel group.
Like other people AFP spoke to for this piece, the couple declined to give their real names.
Margarita says she ruled out legal routes for migration because they would just take too long.
"I said 'if I wait to do it in 2022 or 2023, they kill us'."
They packed four suitcases and left for Mexico. In Tijuana, they followed directions until they reached a river that marks the border, which they waded into.
As the water rose to their chests, they lost almost everything.
"All we had left were our papers, our bible and two changes of clothes," says Margarita, showing their belongings in two nylon sacks.
US authorities took them to a detention centre and separated them for three days.
The couple and their five-year-old son were transferred to a migrant shelter operated by Catholic charities in San Diego to await a court hearing, while their 19-year-old daughter remained in the detention centre.
As Margarita was speaking to an AFP team, her daughter phoned and the two spoke for the first time in ten days.
"Forgive me, forgive me," she sobbed as she gazed at the video of her daughter on the screen.
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