Jasibi says she fled her hometown in Honduras after a gang killed her parents and gave her 24 hours to leave the country.
The 37-year-old headed north, hoping to seek asylum in the United States, but earlier this year was blocked by a Donald Trump-era health order left in place by President Joe Biden. The order enables U.S. officials to rapidly expel migrants at both the southern and northern borders during the COVID-19 pandemic, essentially cutting off access to asylum for most migrants.
In Mexico, with nowhere to go and few funds, she slept on the street and was kidnapped, according to a request to the U.S. government for a humanitarian exception to the order seen by Reuters. The kidnappers wanted to extort money from her family, Jasibi said.
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