For love and for family, people whose lives bridge the U.S.-Mexico divide continue to cross the border, even with the risk of rapidly shifting policies that could leave them trapped on one side or the other.
Blanca Escalante spends much of her time taking care of seniors, crisscrossing between work and family obligations on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border,The 53-year-old works weeknights assisting an elderly couple in El Paso, where she lives as a legal permanent resident. On weekends, she helps her sister in Juárez care for their 84-year-old mother — a commitment that has become increasingly onerous as travel restrictions at the border head into a seventh month.
President Donald Trump first restricted travel at the U.S.-Mexico border March 21 to slow the spread of COVID-19, limiting crossings to U.S. citizens and permanent residents for"essential" visits only, for work, school or health care. More than once, 25-year-old Grecia Luna arrived late to work at an El Paso coffee shop after the restrictions made bridge wait times less predictable. The dual citizen found independence working on the U.S. side of the border while living with roommates in Juárez, where she grew up. The coffee shop, Fahrenheit 180, didn't survive the pandemic and she lost her job.
"The fact that this effort hasn’t worked proves how deeply interconnected our communities are," she said."We should refocus our efforts on a bi-national COVID plan. Trying to create extra hardship for people isn’t going to solve the problem." Overnight, the borderline — long regarded in border communities as little more than a threshold to home — suddenly hardened.
In July, the Trump administration threatened to bar international students from living in the U.S. while taking fall classes online, a policy it rescinded after facing a rash of lawsuits by universities. The University of Texas at El Paso Luna, looking for a new job in El Paso despite the complications, doesn't know what to make of the future.
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