Dozens of asylum seekers used to arrive at Puerto Fronterizo El Chaparral in Tijuana at the break of dawn each day, where they would be corralled within makeshift metal barriers. Children lay sprawled on the concrete, heads nestled in parents’ laps after the disorienting trip from the crowded migrant shelters. A handful of those present were there for the first time, hoping to register for a number, scribbled on a tiny piece of paper by volunteer organizers. With more than 10,000 names ahead of them on the list, these new arrivals could expect to wait 6 months or more before they’d have to return to the plaza to see if their number would be called.