Once a sleepy agricultural town, the entire economy of Altar, Sonora is, at this point, based on...
Migrants flood into Altar, Sonora before making the dangerous journey across the Sonoran Desert and into the United States. They often pass through here after being deported from the US, as they try to get back home or to organize another crossing.
They stay in guesthouses, pray in church and try to get in touch with their families to have money sent to them. It is a dangerous town and no one is sure who to trust. Migrants typically spend their days in the town's plaza, searching for coyotes or guides, or simply waiting as their trip home or to the US comes together. If the migrants are crossing again,and not going home, they leave Altar stuffed into a van headed for Sasabe, the Mexican border town where the men wait to begin walking into the US.
David Rochkind / Pulitzer Center