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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Justo Robles in Nogales, Mexico

Migrant crossings have plunged after Biden’s asylum ban. But top Democrats are asking: at what price?

people line up against a wall as person wearing uniform shines flashlight on them
People seeking asylum wait to be processed by US border patrol near Jacumba Hot Springs in San Diego, California, in December 2023. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

In early June, Ofelia Arrellano said a gang in Mexico City threatened to kidnap her younger son if she didn’t pay a $160 monthly fee for keeping her toy store afloat.

Arellano, 37, and her two sons gathered enough money and fled. She feared the gangs’ reach if she stayed in Mexico, so they went north, towards the US, she said.

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