As panic sank in, two men strung ladders together with rope and placed them over the steel border wall that separated Tijuana from Southern California.
“Hurry up, hurry keep moving!” shouted the smugglers at the bottom of the ladder. A young girl from Zimbabwe stood on top and looked down with wide eyes, hesitating before taking her next step.
On Monday, people waiting to enter the United States learned that President Trump had canceled all asylum appointments moments after taking office and planned to sign several executive orders sealing the border.
Yet at least one group still made a desperate and perilous last-ditch effort to cross into the United States.
One by one, they ascended the wobbling structure, then slid down the other side. Those who made it over helped catch the women and children. But one woman fell to the ground on her way down and lay wailing in pain, grabbing her leg.
“We do this out of need, not because we want to, and that is it,” said Carlos Porras, 39, from Peru, speaking through the wall slats. He also hurt his ankle while jumping and was limping.