Across formats, across countries: AP dominates coverage of border migrant encampment
A young girl holds her stuffed animal overhead as migrants, many from Haiti, wade across the Rio Grande river from Del Rio, Texas, returning to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, to avoid deportation, Sept. 20, 2021. The U.S. was flying Haitians camped in the Texas border town back to their homeland and blocking others from crossing the border from Mexico. (AP Photo / Félix Márquez)
By Rodrigo Abd, Alberto Arce, Sarah Blake Morgan, Julio Cortez, Dánica Coto, Francois Duckett, Ben Fox, Astrid Galvan, Eric Gay, Josh Goodman, Phil Holm, Fernando Llano, Jasen Lo, Juan Lozano, Pierre Luxama, Félix Márquez, Marcos Martínez Chacón, Aaron Morrison, Joseph Odelyn, Fernanda Pesce, Evens Sanon, Amanda Seitz, Elliot Spagat, Maria Verza and Julie Watson
AP journalists in three countries had already dominated coverage of the thousands of mostly Haitian asylum seekers who converged on a U.S.-Mexico border bridge encampment when immigration reporter Elliot Spagat turned a hunch into yet another scoop: Biden administration rhetoric about the immediate expulsion of people from the camp belied the fact that many, if not most, were staying at least temporarily in the U.S.,highlighting an increasingly chaotic U.S. asylum system.
What followed was another week of outstanding and indefatigable AP coverage,and collaboration that started days earlier when Spagat confirmed key details about a U.S. plan to begin flying people back to Haiti,while photographer Eric Gay arrived in Del Rio,Texas, to begin AP’s week-plus run of on-the-ground reporting.
Making up the all-formats teams:
— Reporter Juan Lozano,video journalist Sarah Blake Morgan and photographers Julio Cortez and Gay in Del Rio — Maria Verza,video journalist Fernanda Pesce and photographers Fernando Llano and Félix Márquez across the border in Ciudad Acuña,Mexico — Alberto Arce,Evens Sanon,Pierre Luxama and photographers Rodrigo Abd and Joseph Odelyn in Port-au-Prince,Haiti — Spagat and Dánica Coto in San Juan,Puerto Rico — Marcos Martínez Chacón in Monterrey, Mexico — Ben Fox in Washington — Josh Goodman in Miami
U.S. Customs and Border Protection mounted officers attempt to head off migrants crossing the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 19, 2021. – AP Photo / Félix Márquez
Hundreds of images brought the stories to life and drove news cycles. AP photo and video staffers waded into the Rio Grande to capture Border Patrol agents on horseback aggressively corralling migrants in the water; they used a drones over the Rio Grande and the migrant encampment; they documented the release of some migrants while others,deported back to Haiti, arrived amid chaos and violence in a country they barely recognize.
Haitian migrants use a dam to cross the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico, Sept. 18, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. Thousands of migrants were pouring into the Texas border city from Mexico. – AP Photo / Eric Gay
A dust storm moves across the river bank as Haitian migrants use a dam to cross the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico, Sept. 18, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. – AP Photo / Eric Gay
Migrants wade back and forth across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 19, 2021. – AP Photo / Félix Márquez
Migrants wade across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, to shop for food and supplies before returning back to the U.S. side of the border, Sept. 19, 2021. – AP Photo / Félix Márquez
Migrants, many from Haiti, wade between the U.S. and Mexico on the Rio Grande, Sept. 21, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. – AP Photo / Julio Cortez
A National Guardsman stands guard at a fence that runs along the Rio Grande near the International Bridge at Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 17, 2021. – AP Photo / Eric Gay
A man carries a girl across the Rio Grande river as migrants, many from Haiti, leave Del Rio, Texas to return to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, Sept. 22, 2021, to avoid possible deportation from the U.S. – AP Photo / Fernando Llano
Haitian migrants bathe and do laundry along the banks of the Rio Grand after they crossed into the United States from Mexico, Sept. 18, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. – AP Photo / Eric Gay
A girl with Barbie dolls stuffed in her boots waits with other children to cross the Rio Grande their parents as they stand on the bank of the Rio Grande river in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, Sept. 23, 2021, across the border from Del Rio, Texas. – AP Photo / Fernando Llano
Haitian migrants wade across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, returning to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, to avoid deportation to Haiti from the U.S., Sept. 19, 2021. – AP Photo / Félix Márquez
A migrant stands on the shore of the Rio Grande before a crossing from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 19, 2021. – AP Photo / Félix Márquez
Haitian migrants wade across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, returning to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, to avoid deportation to Haiti from the U.S., Sept. 19, 2021. – AP Photo / Félix Márquez
The migrant mother whose child was rescued by United States agents from the waters of the Rio Grande after she lost her footing and the child began to be swept away by the current, cries after she too was helped ashore on the American side of the border between Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, and Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 23, 2021. – AP Photo / Félix Márquez
Migrants, many from Haiti, wade across the Rio Grande river from Del Rio, Texas, returning to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, to avoid deportation from the U.S., Sept. 20, 2021. – AP Photo / Félix Márquez
Migrants from Haiti are detained by Mexican immigration officers in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, Sept. 20, 2021. The options remaining for thousands of Haitian migrants straddling the Mexico-Texas border were narrowing as the U.S. ramped up deportations to Haiti and Mexico began busing some migrants away from the border. – AP Photo / Félix Márquez
Robins Exile, right, of Haiti, eats at a Haitian restaurant, in Tijuana, Mexico, Sept. 20, 2021. Exile arrived in Tijuana a day earlier after changing his plans to head to the Texas border where thousands of Haitians had converged and were now facing deportation. He said messages on WhatsApp and Facebook, and videos on YouTube from fellow Haitian migrants warned him to steer clear of Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, saying it was no longer an easy place to cross into the U.S. – AP Photo / Gregory Bull
A Haitian migrant rests his head on a backpack at the Padre Infante shelter in Monterrey, Mexico, Sept. 22, 2021. – AP Photo / Roberto Martinez
Migrants, most from Haiti, wait for a bus after they were processed and released from a makeshift camp near the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 19, 2021. – AP Photo / Eric Gay
Texas Department of Safety vehicles line up along the bank of the Rio Grande near an encampment of migrants, many from Haiti, near the International Bridge at Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 21, 2021. – AP Photo / Julio Cortez
Migrants, many from Haiti, camp near the Rio Grande under the International Bridge at Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 21, 2021. – AP Photo / Julio Cortez
A migrant man sits in an encampment under the International Bridge at Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 23, 2021. – AP Photo / Julio Cortez
Migrants, many from Haiti, camp under the International Bridge at Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 21, 2021, after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico. – AP Photo / Julio Cortez
A young girl with teary eyes is carried at Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 20, 2021, after being deported from the U.S.-Mexico border. – AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Haitians deported from the United States try to board the same plane on which they were deported as they attempt to return to the United States, on the tarmac of the Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 21, 2021. – AP Photo / Joseph Odelyn
A gang member, wearing a balaclava and holding a gun, poses for a photo in the Portail Leogane neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 16, 2021. Haitian migrants deported to their homeland from the U.S. are landing in a country they barely recognize. – AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd
Deported from the United States the previous day, Delta de Leon and her 2-year-old daughter Chloe share a kiss at their temporary home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 23, 2021. Breakfast on that first morning in Haiti consisted of spaghetti and bits of avocado as de Leon said she was waiting on a money transfer to buy some basic food items. – AP Photo / Joseph Odelyn
Migrants are released from United States Border Patrol custody at a humanitarian center in Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 22, 2021. – AP Photo / Julio Cortez
Haitian migrants play outside at the Padre Infante shelter, in Monterrey, Mexico, Sept. 22, 2021. – AP Photo / Roberto Martinez
Migrants, many from Haiti, play soccer at an improvised refugee camp in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, Sept. 22, 2021. – AP Photo / Fernando Llano
The teams meanwhile joined with far-flung colleagues to produce a steady stream of distinctive enterprise that broke news in its own right in a real-time collaboration that only AP can own.
San Diego reporter Julie Watson led a one-day turn on a lively,explanatory story from Tijuana,Mexico, focused on the Haitian diaspora with contributions from five countries across the Americas. Watson came back with another story on how Haitians used technology to amass in large numbers in Del Rio,with contributions from several others including misinformation reporter Amanda Seitz and our new partners at University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
Race and ethnicity reporters Aaron Morrison and Astrid Galvan teamed with data reporter Jasen Lo to explore the deeply held belief that U.S. immigration policies are anti-Black, along with the analysis to show that Haitians are granted asylum in the U.S. at the lowest rate of any nationality with consistently high numbers of asylum seekers.
For sweeping,collaborative,win-each-day coverage that earned praise from customers and colleagues alike, this team of more than two dozen journalists is AP’s Best of Week — First Winner.
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