Every day thousands of asylum-seeking migrants wait in makeshift shelters in Tijuana, holding their places in line for processing at a US detention center. But, each day, only a few dozen are called, a process slowed by never-ending administrative roadblocks. All the while, at seemingly every advance: more waiting. Waiting to arrive, waiting in shelters, waiting in lines, waiting for numbers to be called, waiting for answers.

If called for processing, migrants enter a cold, crowded cell for days, weeks, sometimes months, as US officials decide whether they will be tagged with an ankle bracelet and granted temporary entry or deported back to their home countries. If granted parole in the United States, these legal immigrants are typically released along a road in San Diego without any money in hand or the opportunity to make a phone call. Their paperwork is written in English, making it difficult to understand, and they are given no direction as to where to go next.

Amidst that uncertainty, Mark and Jules help ground them, providing basics during these vulnerable moments of transition, their very first moments in the United States.