Increasing political and ethnic persecution in his native Mauritania prompted Barry to flee. He decided to go to the US by crossing the Mexican border in July, as many Africans do.

Before leaving he had searched social media for advice on irregular migration and quickly realized that the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean to Europe was not his only option.

The journey of Barry — who did not want to reveal his last name — is indicative of a new reality: the US southern border is a gateway for asylum seekers from around the world, not just Latin America.

Like Barry, 1.3 million of the 2.5 million people who crossed the Mexican border in 2023 are from countries other than Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, according to the US Border Patrol.

A 234% increase over 2021.

The number of Africans who crossed these borders increased by 346% year-on-year, with 58,000 crossings in 2023, while in 2022 only 13,000 were recorded.

“Another Road”

For migrants to reach the US-Mexico border there are as many paths as the countries from which they depart: Barry first went to Turkey, then to Latin America, and then took the road north.

“Supposedly legitimate travel agencies” in West Africa are posting ever-changing migration routes on social media, according to US Border Patrol officials.

In November, Washington imposed sanctions on a Mexican national known to have flown Cubans and Haitians to Nicaragua, a country whose lax visa policy has reduced it to a primary choice for migrants seeking to reach the US.

Efforts by European countries to close the routes through the Sahara and the Mediterranean are likely to push more and more people to America, according to many analysts.

“You see how they patrol this area. Now people are taking another path,” said Dauda Sesay, director of the national network of the American organization African Communities Together.

In Columbus, the capital of the US state of Ohio, there has been a Moorish community for two decades.

But their numbers have nearly doubled due to new arrivals, from 4,000 to 7,000 to 8,000, according to Ouley Thiam, president of a Mauritanian human rights network who lives in Columbus.

Thiam, 42, says she often wakes up in the morning to up to 25 WhatsApp voicemails asking for immigration advice.

The issue is at the center of the US presidential election campaign: the state of Texas and the federal government are at loggerheads over border control, while Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump warns of the dangers of of irregular immigration whenever he gets the chance.