When the Trump administration rolled out its policy to force asylum seekers to wait in Mexico, officials said medical exemptions would help the sick. They haven’t.
MATAMOROS, Mexico — Maria Sam had lost count of her 9-year-old son’s seizures in the nearly three months since they applied for asylum in the United States but were told to wait on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande.
But his most recent medical episode was enough to prompt Ms. Sam, who is from Guatemala, to pack up their few belongings and return to the border post to test the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy and its stated exemption for medical emergencies.
“Yesterday was the worst because he turned purple,” Ms. Sam said last Wednesday, as her son David clutched her jacket and they prepared to walk to the international bridge that connects this dangerous area of Mexico to Brownsville, Texas. “They had to call an ambulance and bring him to the hospital.” Continue reading.