Accessibility links

Breaking News
USA

Families separated by US-Mexico border reunite for a few precious minutes


A person living in Mexico embraces a relative living in the U.S. during the annual "Hugs Not Walls" event on a stretch of the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Nov. 2, 2024.
A person living in Mexico embraces a relative living in the U.S. during the annual "Hugs Not Walls" event on a stretch of the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Nov. 2, 2024.

Nearly 200 families gathered Saturday along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border for heartfelt but brief reunions with loved ones they had not seen for years because they live in different countries.

Tears flowed and people embraced as Mexican families were allowed to reunite for a few minutes at the border with relatives who migrated to the U.S. Adults and children passed over the Rio Grande to meet with their loved ones.

About 200 families whose members live on different sides of the U.S.-Mexico border saw one another during the annual "Hugs Not Walls" event in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Nov. 2, 2024. Participants reunited in the middle of the Rio Grande.
About 200 families whose members live on different sides of the U.S.-Mexico border saw one another during the annual "Hugs Not Walls" event in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Nov. 2, 2024. Participants reunited in the middle of the Rio Grande.

This year, the annual "Hugs Not Walls" event organized by an immigrant rights advocacy group happened three days before the U.S. presidential election, whose monthslong campaigns have focused heavily on immigration and border security. It also took place under decreased security, according to the Network in Defense of the Rights of Migrants.

"We did not have barbed wire, we did not have so many soldiers deployed in our community," said Fernando Garcia, the organization's director, highlighting the border security changes that the border has seen since the reunions began last decade. "The barbed wire had to be opened so that the families could have this event."

Participants in the annual "Hugs Not Walls" event hug one another on the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Nov. 2, 2024.
Participants in the annual "Hugs Not Walls" event hug one another on the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Nov. 2, 2024.

Garcia said he expects migration into the U.S. to continue regardless of who wins Tuesday's election. Family reunions, he said, will continue, too.

"Deportation policy, border policy, immigration policy, is separating families in an extraordinary way and is deeply impacting these families," he said.

XS
SM
MD
LG