'Where will you be, Mommy?': At the US-Mexico border, immigrant mothers seeking asylum prepare for whatever may come
TIJUANA, Mexico - Two weeks ago, Dalila Pojoy stopped breastfeeding her baby girl.
The 33-year-old Guatemalan immigrant decided it was the sensible thing to do in case the U.S. government took custody of her 6-month-old. Little Bernardethe wailed for three days and clawed at her mother's breast.
Days later, an immigration attorney delivered bad news to Pojoy, who was waiting for a chance to plead for asylum at a U.S.-Mexico port of entry in Tijuana with her baby and two teen children. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had just issued a ruling that would seem to kill any hope of her getting refuge in the U.S.
No longer would the U.S. grant asylum to most victims of gang violence or the domestic violence that Pojoy was fleeing.
"It's almost certain they will deport you," an immigration attorney told her. "You have to really think about this before turning yourself in."
"I can't stay here; I can't return," she responded. "I've come so far. I'm going to chance it."
At dozens of temporary shelters lining the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana, hundreds of asylum seekers fleeing violence of all sorts are making calculations before turning themselves in at the
