Yolanda, a migrant from El Salvador, shows her documents from Migrant Protection Protocols inside of Iglesia Metodista "El Buen Pastor" migrant shelter on June 16, 2019.  The folder contains the form I-589, the Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, which she must complete in English to submit at her next court hearing. Many migrants in the MPP program do not have access to immigration attorneys who can help them prepare their cases because they are located in Mexico, and do not have sufficient funds to pay for one. - AFP presents a photo essay of 36 images by photographer Paul Ratje on the ordeal of Yolanda - who asked that we not use her last name - one of thousands of would-be migrants from Central American fleeing violence and seeking asylum in the United States who were told to wait for their court hearing in Mexico. 
Yolanda came from El Salvador a little bit less than five months ago with her year-old grandson and teenage daughter and they were separated when they crossed the border from Mexico to the US. She now faces the opaque and dysfunctional US immigration system, with a kaleidoscope of legal requirements that even lawyers find hard to navigate, seeking asylum. There are almost 19,000 asylum seekers in Mexican border cities waiting for a US court hearing, according to research based on US and Mexican official figures. At least 5,000 of them are in Ciudad Juarez, El Paso's Mexican sister city. (Photo by Paul Ratje / AFP)        (Photo credit should read PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)
Yolanda, a migrant from El Salvador, shows her documents from Migrant Protection Protocols inside of Iglesia Metodista "El Buen Pastor" migrant shelter on June 16, 2019.  The folder contains the form I-589, the Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, which she must complete in English to submit at her next court hearing. Many migrants in the MPP program do not have access to immigration attorneys who can help them prepare their cases because they are located in Mexico, and do not have sufficient funds to pay for one. - AFP presents a photo essay of 36 images by photographer Paul Ratje on the ordeal of Yolanda - who asked that we not use her last name - one of thousands of would-be migrants from Central American fleeing violence and seeking asylum in the United States who were told to wait for their court hearing in Mexico. 
Yolanda came from El Salvador a little bit less than five months ago with her year-old grandson and teenage daughter and they were separated when they crossed the border from Mexico to the US. She now faces the opaque and dysfunctional US immigration system, with a kaleidoscope of legal requirements that even lawyers find hard to navigate, seeking asylum. There are almost 19,000 asylum seekers in Mexican border cities waiting for a US court hearing, according to research based on US and Mexican official figures. At least 5,000 of them are in Ciudad Juarez, El Paso's Mexican sister city. (Photo by Paul Ratje / AFP)        (Photo credit should read PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)

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    Nuevas barreras para conseguir la residencia legal en EE.UU.

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Nuevas barreras para conseguir la residencia legal en EE.UU.

Este 24 de febrero entró en vigor un nuevo requisito para conseguir la residencia legal en EE.UU. con la "Regla de carga pública", donde la persona debe demostrar que tiene ingresos, bienes y habilidades que le permitan residir en Estados Unidos sin requerir ayuda o asistencia pública. La jueza Sonia Sotomayor estuvo en desacuerdo con la medida y dijo que sus colegas debilitan el sistema judicial del país.

Nuevas barreras para conseguir la residencia legal en EE.UU.

Este 24 de febrero entró en vigor un nuevo requisito para conseguir la residencia legal en EE.UU. con la "Regla de carga pública", donde la persona debe demostrar que tiene ingresos, bienes y habilidades que le permitan residir en Estados Unidos sin requerir ayuda o asistencia pública. La jueza Sonia Sotomayor estuvo en desacuerdo con la medida y dijo que sus colegas debilitan el sistema judicial del país.