A short stretch of the meandering Rio Grande - the river that marks the border between the United States and Mexico - has been for a long time a focal point for migrants looking to head north, seeking a better life.
It begins in early 2019, on a dirt road through a cotton farm in Texas that is known as a migrant trail. The road leads from the Rio Grande to the border wall, about a mile away. In winter, the trail is cold and muddy. Already, families are lining up to be processed - including Gabriella, a 16-year-old mother from Honduras, who has arrived with her baby and younger brother.
By late March, the land is more verdant and trees provide more cover. A raft crosses the Rio Grande, watched by the border patrol on the U.S. shore. Migrants scramble up a steep slope and an agent meets them at the top to detain them.
Story
Now, once again, agents find they are dealing more with the traditional crossers known as "runners" - economic migrants, mostly young men, looking to enter illegally into the United States in order to work.
The other familiar find is drugs. Bundles tied up with string and abandoned in the wintry November woods after smugglers heard security vehicles approaching are an indication of how some things remain constant along the Rio Grande.
PHOTO EDITING GABRIELLE FONSECA JOHNSON; WRITING Rosalba O'Brien; EDITING Lisa Shumaker; LAYOUT JULIA DALRYMPLE