Fort Hancock, Texas sits just across the Rio Grande from El Porvenir, Mexico, and this Al Jazeera report follows the Mexicans crossing that stretch of border not for work but to escape the drug war burning through their hometown. Residents describe gangs torching houses and killing people in the street, and relatives on the American side are pleading with immigration officials to let them stay. The film uses their case to examine a broader shift: asylum requests from Mexicans have more than doubled in a single year, yet Mexico has one of the highest denial rates in the system, with only 183 of 9,000 claims granted over three years. Journalist Emilio Gutierrez appears as a central figure, describing the threats that drove him and his son out of the country after he reported on cartel violence, and the limbo he now lives in on a temporary visa. His story stands in for the wider group of Mexican reporters who fled and are still waiting for legal status while watching their country's crisis from across the line.