‘Remain in Mexico’ policy turns one year old
Thousands of asylum seekers await hearings
CIUDAD JUÁREZ — On the one-year anniversary of the Migrant Protection Protocol, known as “remain in Mexico” and MPP, critics said the policy has endangered thousands of asylum seekers, including children, while the Trump administration said it is an effective tool for deterring smugglers.
“This is a policy which is damaging people’s lives and which is also eroding our country’s historic commitment to asylum so, brick by brick, asylum is crumbling here at the border and we have to stand up to protect it,” said Dylan Corbett, director of the Hope Border Institute.
The Trump administration has praised Mexico for its role in MPP, and the Department of Homeland Security has said the policy is working.
“The U.S. and Mexican governments 100% support MPP, which is firmly authorized by bipartisan Congressional statute and has allowed the U.S. to provide the opportunity for due process to more than 57,000 migrants,” said Heather Swift, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security.
The faith-based, nonprofit Hope Border Institute, which advocates for migrants in the El Paso, Ciudad Juárez,
Las Cruces region, was among organizations that issued scathing reports on the impact of the MPP on the anniversary of the policy.
All said that rather than finding protection, migrants were preyed upon in Mexico while waiting for a decision on their asylum cases in U.S. immigration court.
“Many of them fear even leaving their shelters. They don’t know the place, they don’t know the city, so their mobility is compromised,” said Edith Tapia, Hope Border Institute research analyst during a webinar Wednesday detailing the report on MPP.
Nearly 60,000 migrants have been
sent to Mexico. About 25% are children. An estimated 20,000 migrants have been returned to Juárez, according to the Hope Border Institute report.
During the past year, migrants in Juárez interviewed by the Journal said extortion and kidnapping for ransom are the biggest threats. Some said they had also been robbed, beaten and threatened. Others expressed fear of being caught in the crossfire as violence escalates in Juárez and other border cities.
The number of murders in Juárez climbed steadily last year to a total of 1,500. This year, the violence has continued, with 20 murders in 24 hours this past weekend according to local media reports in the city.
Critics calling for the end of MPP argue it “outsources” U.S. immigration policy by sending asylum seekers to Mexico.
“On the one-year anniversary, we have to double down as human rights advocates, as border communities to make sure that the American public doesn’t close their eyes to what’s happening on the border,” said Corbett.