Mr. LeBarón, the family's spokesperson, said he hopes he can channel the grief and anger over the killings into a broad social movement. “We want to unite the whole country. We want a social movement, not a political one,” he said.

After a trip to the border, I returned home to the nation’s capital—where President Trump continues to double down on cruel policies—carrying a stone I picked up in the desert and the stories of migrants.

Mexico is on edge after a wave of violence hit the country last week, culminating in heavy fighting between the army and alleged members of organized crime in Culiacán, the capital of the northern state of Sinaloa, that lasted for hours on Oct. 17.

Lawmakers in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca have approved a measure to decriminalize abortion, despite vocal church opposition.

The increased attention by Mexican police and armed forces is encouraging undocumented migrants to avoid shelters, many of which are run by the Catholic Church here, and to follow more dangerous routes through Mexico, aid workers warn.

A new broadway play creates a docu-mythologia around the disappearance and murders of more than 700 women in Ciudad Juárez since 1993.