NOGALES, SONORA — The air was frigid and silent.
A woman from Michoacán, Mexico, huddled with her three sons on a recent morning as they stood outside the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Sonora. The family stood together, swaddled in winter coats and baseball caps as they clutched their backpacks and a handful of luggage.
In the dark early morning hours, the family was illuminated only by the fluorescent lights emanating from beyond the revolving metal gates in the crossing facility.
A few scattered people strolled through the gates into Mexico, passing the family and a white plastic table where steaming tamales were being sold.