Kidnappers released his family after nearly a month in exchange for a $1,000 ransom, Mexican state prosecutor records show. The family has lived since then at a shelter in this border city, where Atencio has worked construction and food delivery jobs to support them.
Their fate and well-being are part of a mounting political challenge for Latin American leaders including Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum. She has sought to earn goodwill with the U.S. on matters including trade by fighting drug cartels more aggressively than her predecessors and helping curb illegal migration to the U.S. Now, with Mexico’s economic ties with its largest trading partner as uncertain as ever, the ramifications of Trump’s immigration policies are giving her new domestic problems to solve.
“This whole problem is like a monster growing before us, and there’s little we can do about it,” said Román Domínguez, an evangelical pastor who runs a shelter for a few dozen migrants in Ciudad Juárez, near the pedestrian bridge to El Paso, Texas.