A Central American migrant washes the hands of a child at an encampment of more than 2,000 migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., as local authorities prepare to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Matamoros, Mexico March 20, 2020. Picture taken March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

A Central American migrant washes dishes at an encampment of more than 2,000 migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., as local authorities prepare to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Matamoros, Mexico March 20, 2020. Picture taken March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

A Central American migrant, who is seeking asylum in the U.S., cooks beans at an encampment of more than 2,000 migrants, as local authorities prepare to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Matamoros, Mexico March 20, 2020. Picture taken March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

Central American migrants, who are seeking asylum in the U.S., share a moment at an encampment of more than 2,000 migrants, as local authorities prepare to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Matamoros, Mexico March 20, 2020. Picture taken March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

A Central American migrant, who is seeking asylum in the U.S., touches his son's foot at an encampment of more than 2,000 migrants, as local authorities prepare to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Matamoros, Mexico March 20, 2020. Picture taken March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

Central American migrants deported from the U.S. are pictured while walking toward Mexico at Paso del Norte International Border bridge after the U.S. and Mexico have agreed to restrict non-essential travel over their shared border to limit the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

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. In the first half of 2019, it became a scene of chaos and misery as unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers arrived, mostly Central Americans. Families fleeing poverty and gang violence sought to cross at a record rate, overwhelming the border patrol agents on the U.S. side. As summer gave way to autumn, the numbers declined dramatically. U.S. President Donald Trump, who had campaigned on an anti-immigration platform, passed a series of measures to curb entry and pressured Mexico to make its own border more secure. As a result of the new policies, tens of thousands of migrants have been turned back across the border to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their immigration cases and the U.S. government has more tools to deny asylum seekers outright. The U.S. border patrol said total apprehensions at the southwest border hit a high of nearly 133,000 in May 2019. By November that decreased to some 34,000. Reuters photographer Adrees Latif has spent much of the last year in the Rio Grande Valley, documenting the extraordinary scenes. REUTERS/Adrees Latif SEARCH "RIO GRANDE PATROL" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. Matching Text: USA-IMMIGRATION/ASYLUM SEEKERS. TEMPLATE OUT

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. In the first half of 2019, it became a scene of chaos and misery as unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers arrived, mostly Central Americans. Families fleeing poverty and gang violence sought to cross at a record rate, overwhelming the border patrol agents on the U.S. side. As summer gave way to autumn, the numbers declined dramatically. U.S. President Donald Trump, who had campaigned on an anti-immigration platform, passed a series of measures to curb entry and pressured Mexico to make its own border more secure. As a result of the new policies, tens of thousands of migrants have been turned back across the border to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their immigration cases and the U.S. government has more tools to deny asylum seekers outright. The U.S. border patrol said total apprehensions at the southwest border hit a high of nearly 133,000 in May 2019. By November that decreased to some 34,000. Reuters photographer Adrees Latif has spent much of the last year in the Rio Grande Valley, documenting the extraordinary scenes. REUTERS/Adrees Latif SEARCH "RIO GRANDE PATROL" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. Matching Text: USA-IMMIGRATION/ASYLUM SEEKERS. TEMPLATE OUT

A government worker talks with a Central American migrant during a job fair in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

A government worker writes down information from Central American migrants during a job fair in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

A man, member of a caravan of mostly Central American migrants, sits with a crying child as security forces (not pictured) block the road, near Frontera Hidalgo, Chiapas, Mexico January 23, 2020. Picture taken January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

A man, member of a caravan of mostly Central American migrants, sits with a crying child as security forces (not pictured) block the road, near Frontera Hidalgo, Chiapas, Mexico January 23, 2020. Picture taken January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

Security forces holding riot shields block the road for a caravan of mostly Central American migrants (not pictured), near Frontera Hidalgo, Chiapas, Mexico January 23, 2020. Picture taken January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

Security forces holding riot shields block the road for a caravan of mostly Central American migrants (not pictured), near Frontera Hidalgo, Chiapas, Mexico January 23, 2020. Picture taken January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

Security forces holding riot shields block the road for a caravan of mostly Central American migrants (not pictured), near Frontera Hidalgo, Chiapas, Mexico January 23, 2020. Picture taken January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

Security forces holding riot shields block the road for a caravan of mostly Central American migrants (not pictured), near Frontera Hidalgo, Chiapas, Mexico January 23, 2020. Picture taken January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

Security forces with riot shields block the road for a caravan of mostly Central American migrants (not pictured), near Frontera Hidalgo, Chiapas, Mexico January 23, 2020. Picture taken January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

Security forces holding riot shields block a caravan of mostly Central American migrants, near Frontera Hidalgo, Chiapas, Mexico January 23, 2020. Picture taken January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares

Migrants from Central American, part of a caravan travelling to the U.S., wait to cross into Mexico at the border between Guatemala and Mexico, in El Ceibo, Guatemala, January 18, 2020. REUTERS/Victor Pena

Migrants from Central American, part of a caravan travelling to the U.S., wait to cross into Mexico at the border between Guatemala and Mexico, in El Ceibo, Guatemala, January 18, 2020. REUTERS/Victor Pena

Migrants from Central American, part of a caravan travelling to the U.S., waits to cross in to Mexico at the border between Guatemala and Mexico, in El Ceibo, Guatemala, January 18, 2020. REUTERS/Victor Pena

Migrants from Central American, part of a caravan travelling to the U.S., arrive at the border between Guatemala and Mexico, in El Ceibo, Guatemala, January 18, 2020. REUTERS/Victor Pena

Migrants pray at the government-run Leona Vicario migrant shelter, temporarily closed by health authorities following a varicela outbreak between Central American migrants that have been sent by the U.S. government to wait out their asylum court dates in Mexico, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

A migrant carrying his daughter prays at the government-run Leona Vicario migrant shelter, temporarily closed by health authorities following a varicela outbreak between Central American migrants that have been sent by the U.S. government to wait out their asylum court dates in Mexico, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Migrants pray at the government-run Leona Vicario migrant shelter, temporarily closed by health authorities following a varicela outbreak between Central American migrants that have been sent by the U.S. government to wait out their asylum court dates in Mexico, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

A general view shows the government-run Leona Vicario migrant shelter, temporarily closed by health authorities following a varicela outbreak between Central American migrants that have been sent by the U.S. government to wait out their asylum court dates in Mexico, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

A migrant removes his dry clothes at the government-run Leona Vicario migrant shelter, temporarily closed by health authorities following a varicela outbreak between Central American migrants that have been sent by the U.S. government to wait out their asylum court dates in Mexico, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

A general view shows the government-run Leona Vicario migrant shelter, temporarily closed by health authorities following a varicela outbreak between Central American migrants that have been sent by the U.S. government to wait out their asylum court dates in Mexico, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Central American migrant children look through the side at the border wall in Tijuana, as they meet to celebrate the holiday season in Tijuana, Mexico December 14, 2019. REUTERS / Jorge Duenes

A shelter worker delivers candies to Central American migrants at the side of the border wall in Tijuana, as they meet to celebrate the holiday season in Tijuana, Mexico December 14, 2019. REUTERS / Jorge Duenes

Central American migrants and shelter workers are seen at the side of the border wall in Tijuana, as they meet to celebrate the holiday season in Tijuana, Mexico December 14, 2019. REUTERS / Jorge Duenes

A shelter worker delivers candies to a Central American migrant at the side of the border wall in Tijuana, as they meet to celebrate the holiday season in Tijuana, Mexico December 14, 2019. REUTERS / Jorge Duenes

Central American migrants and shelter workers are seen at the side of the border wall in Tijuana, as they meet to celebrate the holiday season in Tijuana, Mexico December 14, 2019. REUTERS / Jorge Duenes

Migrants from Honduras (L) and El Salvador are pictured after being sent back to Guatemala from the United States, under a new migration agreement that designates the Central American nation a so-called safe third country for asylum seekers, at Casa del Migrante shelter in Guatemala City, Guatemala December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Luis Echeverria

Josefina Ramos from Honduras, who travels with a caravan of Central American mothers looking for their missing children and to raise awareness, looks for her son who went missing in 2017 while trying to reach the United States, in Mexico City, Mexico November 28, 2019. The writing on the cap reads: "Mesoamerican Migrant Movement." REUTERS/Gustavo Graf

Catholics hold up flags of Central and South American countries, as well as the Mexico flag, as they attend a binational mass in memory of migrants who died during their journey to the U.S. at the banks of the Rio Bravo border between Mexico and the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico November 2, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Catholics hold up flags of Central and South American countries, as well as the U.S. flag, as they attend a binational mass in memory of migrants who died during their journey to the U.S. at the banks of the Rio Bravo border between Mexico and the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico November 2, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Catholics hold up flags of Central and South American countries as they attend a binational mass in memory of migrants who died during their journey to the U.S. at the banks of the Rio Bravo border between Mexico and the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico November 2, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Catholics hold up flags of Mexico and the U.S., as well as other Central and South American countries, as they attend a binational mass for the migrants who died during their journey toward the U.S. at the banks of the Rio Bravo border between Mexico and the United States in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico November 2, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Central American asylum-seeking women cook in a mud stove in an encampment near the Gateway International Bridge after being sent back under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) in Matamoros, Mexico October 30, 2019. Picture taken October 30, 2019. REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas

Central American migrants pass the time at a makeshift encampment occupied by asylum seekers sent back to Mexico from the U.S. under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially named Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, October 27, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

Central American migrants pass the time at a makeshift encampment occupied by asylum seekers sent back to Mexico from the U.S. under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially named Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, October 27, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

Central American migrants are seen outside their tents in an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 14, 2019. Picture taken September 14, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Central American migrants are seen in an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 14, 2019. Picture taken September 14, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Central American migrants are seen in an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 14, 2019. Picture taken September 14, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Central American migrants wash their clothes in the Rio Bravo near an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 14, 2019. Picture taken September 14, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

A Central American migrant reads a document outside his tent in an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 14, 2019. Picture taken September 14, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Central American migrants rest outside their tents in an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 13, 2019. Picture taken September 13, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

A Central American migrant walks past tents in an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 14, 2019. Picture taken September 14, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Central American migrants are seen sitting outside their tents in an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 13, 2019. Picture taken September 13, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Central American migrants are seen outside their tents in an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 14, 2019. Picture taken September 14, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

Central American migrants wash their clothes in the Rio Bravo near an encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, at the end of the Gateway International Bridge, where migrants sent back under the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), await their U.S. asylum hearings, September 13, 2019. Picture taken September 13, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero

A two year-old migrant girl from Guatemala wanders away from the group after her mother and fellow Central American asylum seekers who illegally crossed the Rio Grande nearby turned themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol in Los Ebanos, Texas, U.S., October 5, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

A two year-old migrant girl from Guatemala wanders away from the group after her mother and fellow Central American asylum seekers who illegally crossed the Rio Grande nearby turned themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol in Los Ebanos, Texas, U.S., October 5, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

A two year-old migrant girl from Guatemala holds a Homeland Security possessions bag after her mother and fellow Central American asylum seekers who illegally crossed the Rio Grande nearby turned themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol in Los Ebanos, Texas, U.S., October 5, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

A two year-old migrant girl from Guatemala adjusts her shoe after being instructed to remove the laces, after her mother and fellow Central American asylum seekers who illegally crossed the Rio Grande nearby turned themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol in Los Ebanos, Texas, U.S., October 5, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott