Marooned in Matamoros, Part 2

Post Reports

The Washington Post

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2021

⏱️ ? minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In February 2020, Washington Post reporter Arelis R. Hernández walked across the bridge from Brownsville, Tex., to Matamoros, Mexico, two sister cities along the international border with the glistening green Rio Grande snaking between them.

Up on the levee, a breathtaking sight unfolded before her: a makeshift migrant camp full of thousands of asylum seekers from all over Latin America forced by the Trump administration to wait in Mexico while they plead their cases.

There in the camp, Hernández met a woman from El Salvador named Nancy and her two teenage children. Nancy had a chilling story to tell about how she wound up there — and why she feared she would never get out.

In this special two-part series, Hernández and producer Ted Muldoon explore what Nancy’s story reveals about the real-world impact of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy.

In Part 2, the Biden administration comes into office promising change. But change can’t come soon enough for Nancy, whose desperation has only deepened after 16 months in the camp.

To find photos and videos of Nancy's journey and her life in the camp, visit wapo.st/nancy. Listen to Part 1 of the series here.

Hear more of Hernández’s ride-along with the Hidalgo County Constable’s office in this March 2021 episode of Post Reports, or read about it here.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Martine.
0:04.6	Today we are airing the second episode in a two-part series, Marooned in Matamoros.
0:10.3	So if you haven't yet heard the first episode, please go back and listen to that.
0:14.8	For this story, post-reports editor and producer Ted Moldune has been taking the reins
0:18.9	as host, so you'll hear him in just a second.
0:22.2	And one more thing, a warning that this episode contains some graphic descriptions of a violent
0:27.0	crime.
0:28.0	So here we go.
0:33.1	From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports.
0:36.7	I'm Ted Moldune in for Martine Powers.
0:47.0	For the past year, post-reporter Arilis Hernandez has been documenting the journey of Nancy.
0:55.2	She's a Salvadoran woman that arrived at the U.S. Mexico border in 2019 seeking asylum
0:59.6	with her two children.
1:01.5	There are among at least 70,000 other asylum seekers forced back into Mexico by the Trump
1:05.9	Administration, while their cases were being processed.
1:08.9	This is better known as the Remain in Mexico Policy.
1:12.6	Last episode, we documented how Nancy and her children became stuck in a migrant camp
1:16.6	in Matamoros, Mexico.
1:18.8	This episode, what happens when a new administration comes into office, promising change.
1:23.8	All right.
1:35.2	Today is February 10th, 2021.
1:38.4	It's been less than a month since President Biden was inaugurated, and it's been 18 months
	...

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