Meet Natalie Keyssar, Border Fellow: “As a journalist with a focus on Latin America, I’ve been aware of the refugee crisis facing migrants from Central America seeking safety and economic opportunity in the US for years, and have indeed worked on the story in the US covering immigration detention centers and the border. That didn’t prepare me, however, for the scale of the crisis, the volume of injustice and desperation, found trapped in a bottle neck on the other side of the wall in Tijuana. I was struck by the inequality in economies between the US and Mexican sides of the border. And was profoundly impacted by the stories of migrants risking everything to reach the US, only to face a life of living illegally, or imprisonment, or deportation. I left the border with no doubt that our system is utterly broken, and in desperate need of repair. The crisis of how we handle our borders is global, and whether its Syrians or Salvadorians these stories need more attention, and more potential solutions.”

#IWMFfellows were on the ground in Colombia and the Mexico-U.S. Border in April as part of the Adelante Latin America Reporting Initiative. #womenjournos #usmx