Flaws seen as asylum in Mexico is strained
MEXICO CITY — As the Trump administration pushes forward with its plans to harden the southwest border, Mexico has found itself under pressure to take in an increasing number of asylum seekers making their way north from Central America, many of them fleeing gang violence.
But immigrant advocates say Mexico’s asylum system and its ability to protect migrants have not kept pace with these demands, impeding access for many migrants to the safety they deserve and the refugee status they may be entitled to.
While the Mexican government has made improvements to its asylum program in recent years and has awarded protection at increasingly higher rates, the system remains deeply flawed, leaving many migrants vulnerable to harm, according to at least seven reports published in recent weeks by American, Mexican, Central American and international groups focused on human rights and migration.
The weaknesses include inadequate staffing in Mexico’s refugee agency, leading to monthslong waits for applicants; uneven training and supervision of immigration agents; and inconsistent adjudication of asylum law, according to the reports.
Many who might qualify for asylum have been unable to begin the process because government officials have not taken the steps needed to allow them to apply, the groups contend. In some cases, border agents have actively discouraged migrants from applying for asylum, threatening them with long detention in Mexico while their petitions are being considered, advocates say.
These weaknesses are particularly glaring, advocates say, as some legislators in Washington push for a legal change that would require migrants to apply for asylum in Mexico if they reached the United States by traveling through it. A bill pending in Congress “would allow the return of apprehended Central American refugees to Mexico, where they could apply for protection,” without the need for a bilateral agreement with Mexico, according to a summary from the House Judiciary Committee, which approved the bill last month.
Such changes “would undermine U.S. global leadership and violate American legal commitments, even if Mexico had a strong refugee protection system,” said a report published last month by Human Rights
First. “They are all the more dangerous because Mexico doesn’t.”
Officials with the National Migration Institute, Mexico’s immigration enforcement agency, and the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance, or COMAR, the department that processes asylum petitions, did not grant interviews for this article.
Though the vast majority of northbound migrants from Central America still regard Mexico as a transit corridor to the U.S., the country has increasingly become an attractive destination in its own right.
Last year nearly 8,800 people applied for asylum in Mexico, almost seven times as many as in 2013, according to government statistics.
Some of the increase has been because of stronger immigration enforcement in Mexico, particularly along its southern border. Some detained migrants, faced with deportation to their home countries, have chosen to apply for asylum.
Over the past several months, the Trump administration’s immigration policies have stoked concern among many potential migrants in Central America that crossing the border and getting by in the U.S. without proper documentation have become more difficult. As a result, far fewer Central Americans appear to be making the trek, particularly those whose principal motivation is to escape poverty.
But Central Americans fleeing chronic violence, particularly in Honduras and El Salvador, continue to leave their countries in large numbers, and an increasing number are deciding to seek refuge in Mexico, claiming they are at risk of, or have suffered, certain kinds of persecution in their home countries.
Officials predict the total number applying for asylum this year will reach 20,000, more than twice the number of last year.
This surge has put intense pressure on the Mexican government, and COMAR, the agency that processes asylum applications, has not kept pace. The agency got a significant lift last year when the United Nations agreed to cover the cost of hiring 29 additional staff members, but its employees are still overloaded.
“While the number of asylum claimants has increased many times over, the budget of COMAR has not,” said Mark Manly, the Mexico representative for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. “This has put the Mexican asylum system under significant strain.”
The stress on the staff members has contributed to sloppy work and inconsistent adjudication, immigrants’ advocates and human rights workers contend.
The outcome of an application for asylum “depends a lot on who has to review your case,” said Nancy Pérez García, director of Sin Fronteras, a group based in Mexico City that promotes the rights of migrants and refugees.
Even worse, advocates and immigration lawyers say, many people are not even getting the chance to be considered for asylum.
For many, their first contact with Mexican authorities is when immigration-enforcement officials detain them. According to protocols, agents are supposed to screen the migrants to assess whether they might need protection and, if so, to refer them to the refugee agency.
But in some cases, agents fail to screen properly and instead channel people into the deportation process. Amnesty International said in a report published in June that “numerous asylum seekers” told the group’s researchers they had been deported on earlier trips and had never been informed of their right to seek asylum.
“While the number of asylum claimants has increased many times over, the budget of COMAR has not. This has put the Mexican asylum system under significant strain.” – MARK MANLY