As they walked up to the thick metal pillars of the border wall dividing Tijuana and San Diego, the Hussaini siblings carried nothing from their lives in Afghanistan than a hazy fantasy of what awaited them on the other side.

Amir, 21, and his sisters, Suraiya, 26, and Bano, 27, arrived in northern Mexico with an appointment for Jan. 24, four days after U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

That was the day they were supposed to enter the U.S. and make their case, marking what they thought would be an end to the repression by the Taliban after the withdrawal of American troops in 2021, and to their 17,500-mile journey by foot, canoe, bus and plane across the world.

That was all before the door to asylum slammed shut along the U.S. southern border moments after Trump took office.

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