It has been nearly 13 years since López, 42, has been able to gather with her family in Juárez. The Hugs Not Walls event, organized by the El Paso-based Border Network for Human Rights, an ...

"It is sad that they are not allowing us to embrace," García López said, holding a red rose in her hands. "The event is not as exciting and joyful as other years have been. Everything is sad.

The Hugs Not Walls event, which allows brief cross-border reunions for families, was canceled due to the extension of a border military zone. Families protested the cancellation on Mexico Mother's ...