Pictures of the Year International

Eliana, 22, a migrant from Venezuela, holds her three-year-old daughter Chrismarlees as she pleads with an Army National Guard soldier after he halts her from breaching a razor wire-laden fence along the bank of the Rio Grande river in El Paso, Texas, U.S., March 26, 2024. In this moment, Eliana's clothes get snagged by the razor wire, and she is separated from her six-year-old daughter Ariana, who was carried past the fence by other migrants after they used wire cutters to breach the barrier. In Texas, which constitutes approximately 1254 miles of the total 1,954-mile southern U.S. border with Mexico, aggressive state enforcement efforts under Operation Lone Star reduced illegal crossings. However, the state's approach has faced legal challenges and criticism over its humanitarian impact. In 2024, the U.S. government continued efforts to reunite families separated under the previous administration's "zero tolerance" policy, which led to the separation of over 4,600 children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border between 2017 and 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. While the "zero tolerance" policy officially ended in 2018, reports indicate that family separations have continued under certain circumstances. It is unknown if Eliana was reunited with Ariana. However, the photographer did not see Eliana in the encampment the following day and suspects she was able to cross into the United States.