Separating caravan myths from reality
More than two weeks ago, a “caravan” of approximately 5,000 to 7,000 people from Central America began a journey north, through Mexico and ultimately towards the United States. Today, they continue that journey on foot, searching for safety and the promise of a better life.
As an immigration attorney who was born in Central America, this issue hits close to home for me. Immigration law can be extremely complex, heart-wrenching and emotional on all sides of the political spectrum. The clients I meet from this part of the world tell me they fear violence, being forced at gunpoint into gangs, and endure desperate economic conditions. For many, there is no hope for survival if they remain home.
The migration out of these countries is also very dangerous and some do not make it through. Some give up and go home. Many perish along the way.
The current group is traveling at a rate of about 20 miles per day. They have over a thousand miles to go before reaching the closest area of the U.S. border. Choosing the closest route means taking a more dangerous path through Mexico.
Every day presents new challenges. Heat, hunger, medical ailments and exhaustion are commonplace along the route. The road is fraught with human-trafficking dangers, particularly for women and children.
Some parents are so desperate they send their children alone. It is soul-crushing to
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE hear about children who made the trip without their parents, depending on complete strangers for weeks along a perilous path. Some parents hire a paid “coyote,” a professional trafficker, to accompany their children, rather than watching them forced into joining gangs or punished by gangs for not joining.
As a parent, I cannot imagine sending my own children on such a journey by themselves, as these parents must often do with children ages 8, 9, and sometimes even younger.
It is important to ask, why would they come here? Why would they bring along or send their children? Why would they risk
Many make the decision without regard to immigration law in the United States, unaware of the difficult process awaiting those who make it. They simply have no choice. Scammers convince migrants it is easy to get status in the United States, when the opposite is true.
If they are lucky enough to arrive at the U.S. border, they will be detained and processed for “credible fear” interviews. If they pass this stage, they will face an immigration judge who answers directly to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and not to our independent judicial branch of government.
The travelers will be cross-examined by an attorney representing the Department of Homeland Security, but they will not have their own government attorney. Our immigration laws are extremely strict as to who properly qualifies for asylum. Although one may prove his or her life is in danger, if it is not because of an accepted reason within U.S. immigration law, the asylum application will be denied. Most in this case will be ordered removed from the United States.
The United States has not done enough to deter people from entering the country this way, creating a dangerous humanitarian condition, and a class of individuals and families who lack basic protections.
The U.S. can apply greater pressure on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to process these individuals for refugee status, so some of the neediest may end up in the United States through a more orderly process.
The U.S. also has a responsibility to create and share information campaigns in Central American countries, letting people know of the dangers associated with crossing into the United States through Mexico. Mexico has already processed many asylum applications, and the administration is pressuring Mexico to do more to control the flow of immigrants, but the Mexican government claims it cannot process more than 200 to 300 asylum claims each day.
Until the caravan reaches the U.S. border, we will not know the fate of these travelers. There is no easy answer, but we can educate the public to separate myths from reality.
The United States is known around the world as a beacon of hope, a place where people can find justice, safety and peace. Such promise will attract people who live in hellish conditions. They deserve to know what will happen to them, should they make the most dangerous journey of their lives.