HOUSTON – The Honduran woman walked alone through the dark brush of the South Texas borderlands after being pushed across a nearby river in a tire.
Her labor pains were getting worse. From the other side of the river, the smugglers yelled at her to keep moving. Finally, she fell to the ground and screamed for help.
Merín gave birth to her daughter next to the Rio Grande, attended to by two Border Patrol agents, showing how lives routinely end up at risk at the U.S.-Mexico border.Increasing numbers of parents and children are crossing the border, driven by violence and poverty in Central America and growing desperation in migrant camps in Mexico.