Hundreds of red, blue and orange tents are scattered around the Gateway International Bridge that connects Brownsville, Texas, to Matamoros, Mexico, where more than 2,000 asylum seekers live. Children with their families have endured heat, cold and inclement weather for months. Such conditions are grinding down migrants' mental health.
Kelly Escobar is with and has volunteered at the tent encampment, where she provided supplies and assistance to the migrants.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen mental health declining rapidly, especially with people being denied asylum,鈥� she said.
Aid workers are worried about a growing mental health crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border as thousands of migrants are camped out in Mexican border towns, waiting for weeks and months for their day in U.S. immigration court under the Trump administration鈥檚 .
More than 57,000 asylum seekers have been sent back to Mexico under the policy.
Escobar said she left her home in Ohio because she wanted to help the migrants.
鈥淎t first everybody was hopeful. They had dreams, hopes, and [they] thought there was a possibility of asylum,鈥� she explained. 鈥淵ou just see it in people鈥檚 faces. You see the despair, the depression."
That despair was on display for the world to see earlier this month when about 60 miles away. He had just been denied entry into the U.S., .
Escobar said she wasn鈥檛 surprised when she heard the news. She鈥檚 not a trained mental health expert but makes herself available to asylum seekers if they want to talk about what鈥檚 going on in their lives.
She remembered a Mexican man whose wife tried to end her life. They fled violence in southern Mexico, and their asylum claims in the U.S. were denied.
鈥淪he had been denied asylum, she was a Mexican national, denied asylum, came back here and she didn鈥檛 have anything else to live for,鈥� Escobar said. 鈥淭hey had taken her land, her house, and there was nowhere for her to go. She felt life was hopeless -- there was nothing left.鈥�
Escobar said she鈥檚 heard from a lot of migrants who are struggling.
鈥淭hey鈥檒l call me at midnight, two, three o鈥檆lock in the morning, and I鈥檒l stay on the phone with them for hours just trying to calm the situation down,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no ... therapist -- there鈥檚 nobody here that helps these people in that aspect.鈥�
U.S. officials said they are working with Mexico to improve services for migrants, but aid groups said there is little to no mental health care for asylum seekers up and down the border.
In Matamoros, immigrant advocates are trying to get mental health experts to come to the encampment or offer sessions via teleconference.
Ariana Sawyer is with and has visited Matamoros and other towns like it on the border.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about people who have expressed to me that they are experiencing anxiety, depression, nightmares, night terrors -- things like that -- and I think especially for children these are going to be long lasting problems and trauma that they are going to have to deal with,鈥� she said.
The Trump administration has made many changes to the asylum system, making it extremely difficult for migrants to gain protection in the U.S. The administration says the new system is more efficient.
Sawyer said the administration had another goal.
鈥淭his policy was designed to traumatize asylum seekers further to the point where they become willing to give up on their claims, and it鈥檚 doing just that,鈥� Sawyer said.
Roberto Gonzalez fled violence in Honduras with his two boys and said he鈥檚 not giving up on his asylum claim just yet.
But he did get so desperate that he sent his sons across the border by themselves. Gonzalez knew that was the only way they鈥檇 be allowed in. The U.S. doesn鈥檛 turn away unaccompanied children.
鈥淭hey would tell me 'dad, no dad, no.' They鈥檇 say, 'please don鈥檛 don鈥檛 let us go,' 鈥� Gonzalez recalled. 鈥�'Please dad, we love you.' I鈥檇 tell them, 'it鈥檚 going to be better for the both of you.'鈥�
He said at times there was no food for his kids at the camp and that his boys had trouble sleeping and cried all the time.
Gonzalez said he too has cried every night since he sent his children across the bridge and that that was the most difficult thing he鈥檚 had to do.
鈥淚鈥檝e gotten into tough mental head spaces where I鈥檝e gotten thoughts about not wanting to live anymore because I can鈥檛 be sent back to my country,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 know what awaits me if I return. But I ask God to give me strength.鈥�
Gonzalez won鈥檛 see his sons anytime soon. His next asylum hearing is next month, and his sons are currently in the custody of the U.S. government.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, please contact the at 1-800-273-8255.
Reynaldo Lea帽os Jr. can be reached at Reynaldo@TPR.org and on Twitter at
Copyright 2020 Texas Public Radio. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxODQzOTgwMDEyMTcyNjI4MTAxYWQyMw004))
