The camp in Matamoros Mexico was brutally primitive but the migrants who waited there were hopfeul that the lifting of the Title 42 public health regulation that had put a halt to all asylum claims during COVID would give them a chance to make their cases for refuge in the US.
Operation Lonestar and the War on Asylum in Texas
Organization: Allan Mestel Photography
Photographer: Allan Mestel
Organization: Allan Mestel Photography
Exhibit Title: Operation Lonestar and the War on Asylum in Texas
Location: Mexico
In an effort to take control of border policing in Texas, Governor Greg Abbot launched 'Operation Lonestar' in March 2021 directing the Texas National Guard to begin enforcing their own border control operations. This usurping of federal authority to set border policy by a state government is unprecedented in modern US history and has set the stage for potentially the most dangerous conflict between federal and state authorities since the Civil War.
Caught in the middle are the thousands of migrants who have suffered untold hardship and danger fleeing povery and violence in their home countries in the hope of recieving asylum in the US.
These images from both sides of the Texas border begin just prior to the expiration of 'Title 42' on May 12 2022. This public health regulation essentially shut down asylum during COVID and Texas sued to prevent the federakl goverment from rescinding it. They lost, and Texas responded by seizing control of the border. Migrants seeking asylum are currently trapped in limbo as immigration becomes a prime election issue for both parties.
From the time Donald Trump ;launched his first campaign for president by labeling Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists there has been an concerted effort on the politicalright to demonize migrants and asylum seekers and the issue has become a major mobitizing factor for the Republican base. It has also become litmus test for those politicians seeking Trump's edorbsemant for their Republican campaigns.
Nowhere has this war on migration been more ferocious and divisive than on the Texas/Mexico border where, in response to a percieved lack of rigorous enforcement of border policing by the Biden administration, Texas Governor Greg Abbot launced 'Operation Lonestar' in March 2021. This usurping of federal authority to set border policy by a state government is unprecedented in modern US history and has set the stage for potentially the most dangerous con flict between federal and state authorities since the Civil War. Caught in the middle are the thousands of migrants who have suffered untold hardship and danger fleeing povery and violence in their home countries in the hope of recieving asylum in the US.
This came to a head in May of 2022 when a Trump era policy, 'Title 42' was terminated by the Biden sdministration. Title 42 was a regulation that authorized the federal government to temporarily close a border to protect public health. Trump used COVID as a pretext to close the southern border to asylum seekers indefinitely. On May 11, the day before the regulation was set to expire, Texas National Guard troops began fortifying the banks of the Rio Grande river with razor wire effectively creating a state-controlled border. In some cases Texas troops actually blocked acces to the river to Border Patrol agents. Despite the supreme court declaring this to be unconstitutional and illegal the troops and the razor wire remain to this day.
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