Por un cruce fronterizo en Somerton, Arizona, entran inmigrantes de todo el mundo, menos mexicanos. Individuos y familias de lugares tan lejanos como Asia, Europa, África, Centro y Sur America llegan diariamente y se entregan a los oficiales de la patrulla fronteriza para pedir asilo. Llegan por avion, autobús o caminando a este cruce clandestino en tierras de la Cocopah Reservation, huyendo de la persecución en sus países de origen. Oficiales de la patrulla fronteriza (Customs and Border Protection) los transportan a un centro de CBP en Yuma, Arizona. Mexicanos prefieren entran por otras partes mas lejanas de ciudades porque es raro que ellos reciban asilio.
Nigerian Mary Otaiyi, 33, carries her four-year old daughter on her back as her 10-yr. old walks next to her along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Otaiyi, who is seeking asylum in the United States, flew to Brazil where she took multiple buses through Bolivia, Peru and Central America before arriving at this location. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
On a cold Spring morning, Nigerian national Toluwase Oladele Thomas, 43, warms up with the first rays of sun as he awaits processing by Customs and Border Protection officers at a location on the Mexico/USA border in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Thomas, who is seeking asylum in the United States, flew to Brazil first, then took one month to arrive at this location. Thomas said his tribe’s king was murdered and his and other males decided to leave fearing for their safety. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Viviana Ordonez, 39 of Bogota Colombia, prayed when she saw border patrol officers arrive after waiting about 10 hours along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Ordonez said her husband was killed in Bogota and she fled to the US with her two young daughters, one of which is an American citizen. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Dozens of immigrants from as far away as India and Africa wait to be processed by Customs and Border Protection officers along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Luis Orellana, 23 of Nicaragua, took about one month to arrive at the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Orellana wants to reach his grandmother in Miami, who will undergo stomach surgery soon, so he can help her. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Lian Cornejo, 3, writes circles on the dirt with a rock while his mother Paola Fano, 30 of Peru, keeps an eye on him along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. The mother and child took one week by bus to arrive at this location from Peru. Fano has family in Virginia and says she has no more family left in Peru. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Border patrol officer checks identification of those seeking asylum along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
A 29-yr.old asylum seeker succumbed to the elements while waiting along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Border patrol officers treated him while waiting for an ambulance to arrive and take him away. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Renzo Saldana, 26, left, and Katerine Davila, 22, both of Lima Peru, right, wait to be processed for asylum along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Davila survived an attempted kidnapping in her country and both fled fearing for their lives. Saldana’s father lives in Tennessee and they hope to reach him soon. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
A border patrol officer carries a sick immigrant to an area when he was administered oxygen and picked up by an ambulance along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
A stray dog hangs out around those seeking asylum along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. At right is a group of five friends from Senegal (Africa) and next to them is a group from Punjab, India. Others in line came from Central and South America. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Asylum seeker Viviana Ordonez, 39 of Bogota, Colombia, and her two daughters waited about 10 hours along the border wall in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Ordonez said her husband was killed in Bogota and she fled to the US with her two young daughters, one of which is an American citizen. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
As the sun sets on the Sonoran desert, a border patrol helicopter patrols the border area along the Mexico/USA border, on Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Discarded Mexican cash lies on the ground as asylum seekers line up along the Mexico/USA border wall next to Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Asylum seekers must remove any strings, belts or hair ties before being transported form this border crossing location in Somerton AZ., to a Yuma, processing center, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded through Cocopah Reservation land and wait at this location for border patrol officers to pick them up. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
An individual seeking asylum remains pensive at the edge of an irrigation canal at the Mexico/USA border, near Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Mary Otaiyi, 33 of Nigeria, carries her sleeping four-year old daughter as she seeks asylum at the Mexico/USA border, near Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
An asylum seeker rests on an I-beam barricade along the Mexico/USA border, on Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Asylum seekers line up at the Mexico/USA border, on Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Five Chinese nationals, right, seek asylum at the Mexico/USA border, crossing from Mexico on Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
An individual seeking asylum remains pensive at the edge of an irrigation canal at the Mexico/USA border, near Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
A border patrol agent leads asylum seekers to a van for transport along the Mexico/USA border, next to Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
An asylum seeker holds his passport and a border patrol tag while waiting to be transported from the Mexico/USA border, on Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, to a processing center, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
An asylum seeker self-administers an injection while sitting on a border patrol pick-up truck at the Mexico/USA border, next to Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Five immigrants from Punjab, India, seek asylum at the Mexico/USA border, crossing from Mexico near Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Anmol Singh, 19, left, took 10 months to get to this spot while the other four only took one month. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
A Chinese national holds his belonging in plastic bag while seeking asylum at the Mexico/USA border, near Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, about 20 miles from Yuma, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Asylum seekers from throughout the world are walked to vans for transport from the USA/Mexico border near Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, to Yuma, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers document individuals seeking asylum near Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, about 20 miles from Yuma, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
An asylum seeker from the Dominican Republic is handed a tag by a border patrol officer near Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, about 20 miles from Yuma, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
Asylum seeker Leslie Hernandez, 17, from El Salvador, left, traveled alone by bus for five days from her home country and arrived at the Mexico/USA border, on Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants, like Hernandez and Viviana Ordonez, 39 from Colombia, center, and her 15-year old US citizen daughter, cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
As a stray dog looks on, asylum seekers are lined up against the Mexico/USA border wall, next to Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton, Arizona, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses vans like this one to transport asylum seekers from the USA/Mexico border, next to Cocopah Reservation land in Somerton to Yuma, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. Immigrants cross the border unimpeded and wait at this location for border patrol officers to take them to the Yuma Customs and Border Protection processing center. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)
After being stabilized, two asylum seekers wait for the approaching ambulance at the USA/Mexico border in Somerton, Arizona, on Friday, May 5, 2023. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)