Fear, Confusion And Separation As Trump Administration Sends Migrants Back To Mexico
Source: NPR
Fear, Confusion And Separation As Trump Administration Sends Migrants Back To Mexico
July 1, 2019 2:35 PM ET
JOEL ROSE
LAURA SMITHERMAN
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The administration says the program will help restore a "safe and orderly immigration process" and prevent migrants from gaming the system by asking for asylum and then never turning up for court and disappearing into the interior of the United States. In June, the U.S. and Mexico announced plans to expand the program widely along their shared border.
But Remain in Mexico is drawing widespread criticism. Immigrant advocates, lawyers and former U.S. officials say the United States is turning its back on asylum-seekers — vulnerable people who are allowed under U.S. law to seek sanctuary in the United States. Instead, these migrants travel thousands of miles, only to get stopped on the doorstep of the United States.
The union that represents U.S. asylum officers filed a brief in federal court last week as part of a lawsuit seeking to block the program, arguing it is "fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our Nation." In a separate brief, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, among others, argued that the program runs afoul of international commitments.
The Remain in Mexico program in El Paso is one of the largest in the nation. And it offers a case study in how the overall program is working: Many migrants are confused about the legal process and fearful for their safety in dangerous Mexican border towns. Moreover, advocates and lawyers say more migrant families are being separated under the program.
I have never seen people as scared, who are just viscerally terrified while they're begging me, 'Please don't let me get sent back. Please don't let me get sent back.'
Taylor Levy, immigration lawyer
"It's just a complete farce," says Taylor Levy, an immigration lawyer in El Paso, noting that the Trump administration now calls the program Migrant Protection Protocols.
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Read more: https://www.npr.org/2019/07/01/736908483/fear-confusion-and-separation-as-trump-administration-sends-migrants-back-to-mex