Multimedia journalist and Truthdig correspondent Michael Nigro will travel to the U.S.-Mexico border near Tijuana this month to cover the stories of Central American families seeking asylum.  In a reader-funded campaign, Nigro plans to offer a firsthand account, through livestreaming, photo essays and original reporting, of confrontations between asylum seekers and government officials in a climate of heightened xenophobia.

Some families have traveled more than 2,000 miles to escape dangerous conditions, including gang violence and poverty. Last month, U.S. Border Patrol agents fired tear gas on asylum seekers, including children, near Tijuana. Thousands are waiting at camps in Mexico, unsure about whether the U.S. will let them in.  

Nigro has previously covered the Poor People’s Campaign, the Dakota Access pipeline protests at Standing Rock, N.D., the Trump inauguration DisruptJ20 protests, and the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. He will be reporting from San Diego and Tijuana from Dec. 17 through Dec. 22. Find the project’s GoFundMe here.

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