Exclusive-U.S. restarts asylum appointments at Mexico border town despite extortion threat

Volunteers give electrolyte drinks to asylum seekers while they camp near the border in an attempt to cross into the U.S. without an appointment, in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico June 27, 2023. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (Reuters) - The U.S. government is restarting asylum appointments at a dangerous Mexican border town, according to Customs and Borders Protection (CBP), just days after U.S. officials suspended the scheduling of appointments there because drug cartels were extorting migrants.

The reversal comes after more than 1,500 asylum seekers flocked to Mexico's Nuevo Laredo in recent days, sleeping in a plaza near the international bridge, after word spread that the United States had begun to accept more migrants here without asylum appointments.