Photos: U.S. immigration enforcement in McAllen, Texas
After crossing the Rio Grande River at night with the help of smugglers, women and children from Central America are detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Immigrants who’ve been released from detention until their court hearings can get food, clothing and a place to rest at the Humanitarian Respite Center at the Sacred Heart Church in McAllen before getting onto buses to continue their journeys.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)After crossing the Rio Grande River at night with the help of smugglers, a group is detained.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Guatemalans Hector, 29, and his son Ricardo, 10, rest at Sacred Heart Church before catching a 1 a.m. bus to Los Angeles, where they aim to stay. Hector is wearing a leg bracelet to track his movements and ensure he makes his court hearings in months to come.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)As part of the catch and release of immigrants, adults are fitted with a tracking cuff to ensure they show up for their immigration hearings.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Newly arrived immigrants line up at the Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas, before going a Greyhound station to board buses to their final destinations around the country.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)At Sacred Heart Church, Sister Norma Pimentel, right, helps Jorge Anthua, 8, and his mother, who crossed the border after traveling from Guatemala.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Samuel Rodas, 13, puts on clean clothes after his first shower in 10 days. He arrived in the U.S. illegally with his father, Miguel Rodas, a 42-year-old policeman who fled his town in central El Salvador after gang members threatened to kill him. Samuel hopes to attend school in the U.S.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Miguel Rodas, center, and his son Samuel listen to information about future court hearings. Faviola, left, holds 2-month-old Kimberly and Genesis, 3. Faviola and her daughters, from Guatemala, are going to Kansas, where her husband has been living for a year.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)At the Greyhound bus station in Mc Allen, Texas, newly arrived families from Central America board buses for destinations across the U.S.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)Immigrants receive aid at Sacred Heart Church’s center in McAllen, Texas.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)After crossing the Rio Grande River, a group from Central America is detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)