Migrant families protest after US-Mexico reunion event cancelled
Families separated by the US-Mexico border staged a demonstration Saturday on both sides of the boundary, where US President Donald Trump's aggressive anti-migrant policies forced the cancellation of a Mother's Day reunion event.
The American military last week set up a zone in Texas on the US southern border where troops are authorized to detain people crossing illegally.
The establishment of the zone led American officials to cancel the "Hugs, Not Walls" event, which has been held annually since 2016 by the Border Network for Human Rights advocacy group.
The event scheduled for Saturday, one day before Mother's Day, was meant to bring together undocumented migrants in the US with their family members in Mexico.
"We have been doing this since 2016 without any problems, and now we have been banned from using this section of the border," Irma Cruz of the Border Network told AFP, calling the move "devastating."
The group urged the 100 families that had signed up for the reunion event to join a protest in the Mexican border city of Cuidad Juarez. It also called on families in El Paso, the Texas city across from Cuidad Juarez, to demonstrate too.
"There are so many mothers on both sides without their children, unable to hug them," Cruz said.
"We chose this day precisely to draw attention to the fact that this is a humanitarian crisis," she added.
Matilde Rosales, who has not seen her sister Isabel in person in eight years, said the event's cancellation was a "heavy blow."
She called on Trump to reconsider his border policies and allow the event to go ahead.
"It's five minutes, but it's a lot for us," she said, wiping tears away.
Standing about 100 meters (110 yards) away from each other on either side of the Rio Bravo river, the family members waved and used binoculars to catch a glimpse of each other.
Alejandro Ordaz, 46, traveled more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the city of Torreon to hug his mother, who has lived in the United States for 20 years.
"I hope to God that one day I will be able to hug her again," he told AFP.
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