TUESDAY May 11, 2021: 'BROKEN BORDER' by Pulitzer Prize winning ZUMA Photographer Carol Guzy who spent several nights with Texas Rangers on the US-Mexico border covering this story: As darkness falls on the Rio Grande river, Texas Rangers watch with night vision goggles for inflatable rafts crossing the river from Mexico. The night is about to get busy. Soon rafts drop off asylum-seekers onto United States soil, including many families with young children and some even traveling alone. Roma, a town of 10,000 people in the Rio Grande Valley, is the latest epicenter of illegal crossings, where growing numbers of families and children are entering the United States to seek asylum. U.S. authorities reported more than 100,000 encounters on the southern border in February, the highest surge since 2019. At the end of march over 16,000 unaccompanied children were in government custody, including about 5,000 in substandard U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities. A surge of migrants arriving at the Texas-Mexico border has pushed the country's immigration system to the breaking point as new policies aimed at both undocumented immigrants and legal asylum seekers have contributed to a humanitarian crisis. Welcome to 'BROKEN BORDER'
© Story of the Week #786: TUESDAY May 11, 2021: 'BROKEN BORDER' by Pulitzer Prize winning ZUMA Photographer Carol Guzy who spent several nights with Texas Rangers on the US-Mexico border covering this story: As darkness falls on the Rio Grande river, Texas Rangers watch with night vision goggles for inflatable rafts crossing the river from Mexico. The night is about to get busy. Soon rafts drop off asylum-seekers onto United States soil, including many families with young children and some even traveling alone. Roma, a town of 10,000 people in the Rio Grande Valley, is the latest epicenter of illegal crossings, where growing numbers of families and children are entering the United States to seek asylum. U.S. authorities reported more than 100,000 encounters on the southern border in February, the highest surge since 2019. At the end of march over 16,000 unaccompanied children were in government custody, including about 5,000 in substandard U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities. A surge of migrants arriving at the Texas-Mexico border has pushed the country's immigration system to the breaking point as new policies aimed at both undocumented immigrants and legal asylum seekers have contributed to a humanitarian crisis. Welcome to 'BROKEN BORDER'
National Guard troops watch as asylum-seeking migrants cross the Rio Grande River at the border with Mexico in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A young boy looks on as asylum seekers who have just crossed the Rio Grande River in boats with smugglers wait for directions from Border Patrol agents before being processed.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum seekers, sometimes 10 to a boat, cross the Rio Grande River in an inflatable raft guided by smugglers at night.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A Texas Ranger carries a child from a dingy after asylum seekers cross the Rio Grande River in boats with smugglers.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Texas Rangers watch as asylum-seeking migrants cross the Rio Grande River at the border with Mexico in Roma in small inflatable boats.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Migrant families, mostly from Central American countries, sit on the Rio Grande River bank after being delivered by smugglers on small inflatable rafts to U.S. soil in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Green light from night vision goggles lights a Texas Rangers eye as troops watch for asylum-seeking migrants crossing the Rio Grande River at the border with Mexico in Roma in small inflatable boats.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Migrant families, many from Central American countries, wade through shallow waters after being delivered by smugglers on small inflatable rafts to U.S. soil in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Texas Rangers carefully carry a migrant child as asylum-seeking migrants cross the Rio Grande River by small boat at the border with Mexico in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Woman with child asylum seekers who have just crossed the Rio Grande River in boats with smugglers are helped ashore by Texas Rangers before being processed.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrants cross the Rio Grande River at the border with Mexico in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
An asylum-seeking family with a crying child on the river bank after smugglers deposit them on US soil.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Migrant families, mostly from Central American countries, wade through shallow waters after being delivered by smugglers on small inflatable rafts to U.S. soil in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrants sit on the ground many in handcuffs, after crossing border from Mexico in La Joya. They will be taken to a holding facility and processed by US border patrol.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A woman cries as she and other asylum seekers who have just crossed the Rio Grande River in boats with smugglers wait for directions from Border Patrol agents before being processed.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrants with children sit on the river bank and wait as Texas Rangers escort them into custody after they crossed the Rio Grande River illegally into the US at the border with Mexico in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrants cross the Rio Grande River by small inflatable dingy at the border with Mexico in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A migrant carries a child through tall grass as asylum-seeking migrants cross the Rio Grande River at the border with Mexico in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A woman cries after landing on US soil. Asylum-seeking migrants cross the Rio Grande River at the border with Mexico in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Under a star filled sky asylum seekers who have just crossed the Rio Grande River in boats with smugglers wait to be processed by US Border Patrol agents.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A child wearing a superman cape is lifted from the dingy, as migrant families, many from Central American countries, are delivered by smugglers on small inflatable rafts to U.S. soil in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum seekers who have just crossed the Rio Grande River in boats with smugglers are given directions from Border Patrol agents before being processed.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A mother breast feeds her child as asylum-seeking migrants from Central America cross the Rio Grande River at the American border with Mexico at Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Migrant families, mostly from Central American countries, wade through shallow waters after being delivered by smugglers on small inflatable rafts to U.S. soil in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A 'coyote' boat handler wearing a yellow Pokemon mask to hide his identity after delivering migrants across the Rio Grande by inflatable raft and onto US soil.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A young girl wearing a face mask wades through shallow waters after arriving on US soil. Asylum seekers, sometimes 10 to a boat, cross the Rio Grande River in inflatable rafts guided by smugglers.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Migrant families, mostly from Central American countries, sit on the river bank after being delivered by smugglers on small inflatable rafts to U.S. soil in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Migrant families, mostly from Central American countries, being delivered by smugglers on small inflatable rafts to U.S. soil in Roma.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum seekers, including children and sometimes 10 to a boat, arrive on US soil the Rio Grande River in an inflatable raft guided by smugglers.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrants sit on an old train track some in handcuffs, after crossing border from Mexico in La Joya. They will be taken to a holding facility and processed by US border patrol.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrants sit on the ground many in handcuffs, after crossing border from Mexico in La Joya. They will be taken to a holding facility and processed by US border patrol.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Two women comfort each other as they are processed along with other asylum-seeking migrants recently arriving illegally from Mexico.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrant families wait to be processed by Border Patrol agents after crossing the border outside of Roma, Texas.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrants including many children, are processed after crossing the border from Mexico and loaded into buses to be taken U.S. facilities at the southern border.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrants including many children, are processed after crossing the border from Mexico and loaded into buses to be taken U.S. facilities at the southern border.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
Asylum-seeking migrants are processed many in handcuffs, after crossing border from Mexico in La Joya.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
A migrant child wearing a mask flashes a victory symbol while boarding a bus en-route to be processed by Border Patrol at a U.S. facility at the southern border.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Wire
