CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Nearly 200 families gathered along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border Saturday for heartfelt but brief reunions with loved ones they hadn’t seen in years because they live in opposing countries.

Tears were shed and people hugged each other as Mexican families were allowed to reunite for a few minutes at the border with their loved ones who had emigrated to the United States. Adults and children crossed the Rio Grande to meet their loved ones.

This year, the annual event organized by an immigrant rights group took place three days before the U.S. presidential election, whose months-long campaign focused heavily on immigration and border security. It also took place under tight security, according to the Migrant Rights Defense Network.

“We didn’t have barbed wire, we didn’t have as many soldiers deployed in our community,” said Fernando García, director of the organization, highlighting the changes in border security the border has seen since the beginning of the reunion of the last decade. “The barbed wire had to be opened so that families could organize this event. »

García said he expects migration to the United States to continue regardless of who wins Tuesday’s election. Family reunions, he added, will also continue.

“Deportation policy, border policy, immigration policy separates families in an extraordinary way and has a profound impact on those families,” he told reporters before the event.