Humanitarian and safety concerns persist as 'Remain in Mexico' policy restarts

Families and single adults wait with their papers in hand to be processed by Border Patrol agents. The group of about 30 people crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally near Somerton, Arizona, on Monday, Nov. 29, 2021.
Families and single adults wait with their papers in hand to be processed by Border Patrol agents. The group of about 30 people crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally near Somerton, Arizona, on Monday, Nov. 29, 2021.

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The Biden administration's decision to restart Migrant Protection Protocols along the U.S.-Mexico border has disappointed and angered migrant advocates in Arizona and Sonora, who hoped that Biden instead would move forward with plans to end the program altogether.

The announcement to restart the program, popularly known as "Remain in Mexico," came Thursday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, starting Monday, will resume the practice of sending asylum seekers to seven Mexican border cities, including Nogales, Sonora, to await the outcome of their proceedings.

The new version of this program draws upon much of the same infrastructure as the previous one, which ended in January when Biden suspended the implementation of MPP on his first day in office.

The Mexican government announced it agrees to take in migrants under the program, as long as the Biden administration commits to addressing humanitarian concerns.

Although the reimplementation is taking some of these considerations into account, "it is still a broken system," said Gia Del Pino with Kino Border Initiative, a migrant aid organization and shelter in Nogales, Sonora.

"We don't see it is any better. It's inhumane and it's going hand in hand with Title 42," Del Pino said, referring to the public health rule under which the U.S. continues to expel most migrants encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border, including asylum seekers, citing COVID-19 concerns.

The faith-based organization has pushed for the termination of both policies and demands the restoration of asylum access.

"It's just not possible to make an inhumane process humane," she added.

New plans met with skepticism

The Department of Homeland Security issued additional guidance Thursday on the rollout of the program. There are some notable differences this time around.

For example, previously most of the migrants placed in MPP were from Central America but also included migrants from other Spanish-speaking countries and Brazil.

The new guidelines say the program can apply to migrants from “any country in the Western Hemisphere other than Mexico,” likely alluding to the inclusion of Haitians.

The new guidelines also expand the categories of vulnerable individuals who are exempted for the program, such as those with mental or physical health issues, the elderly, and LGBT migrants who are “at increased risk of harm in Mexico due their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

CBP will also offer migrants enrolled in MPP a COVID-19 vaccine before they are returned to Mexico. Proof of vaccination will be required for them to attend their court hearings in the U.S.

But there are other planned changes to the program that have raised eyebrows among migrant advocates in Arizona.

In Thursday’s announcement, DHS committed to concluding asylum proceedings “within six months of an individual’s initial return to Mexico.” The guidelines to resume MPP also outlined some steps to increase access to legal counsel, including access to telephone or video while in DHS custody, and the opportunity to meet with attorneys in private before court hearings.

Chelsea Sachau with the Florence Project in Tucson said that the information in the government’s documents do not always square up with reality on the ground.

She pointed to some of the challenges to conclude proceedings within six months, including a massive backlog in immigration cases and that most asylum seekers are unable to secure legal counsel in the first place, especially while in another country.

“It doesn’t actually solve the problem of someone having to represent themselves in court under incredibly challenging circumstances, in a very taxing process,” she said.

“The amount of proof and evidence and things that asylum seekers have to prove in order to win their asylum case is incredibly difficult.”

Sachau also said she would keep a close eye on how the U.S. and Mexican governments address the issue of transporting migrants enrolled in MPP to and from court hearings.

While the U.S. will return migrants to seven Mexican border cities, they will be required to travel to one of four U.S. border cities for their court hearings. Along the Arizona border, migrants returned to Nogales will be required to travel to Ciudad Juarez to attend court hearings in El Paso.

The DHS guidelines said the U.S. State Department will help coordinate transportation in Mexico for asylum seekers to the U.S. ports of entry. But Sachau questioned what that will look like, and whether the involvement of Mexican officials in the process could create additional opportunities to abuse or extort migrants, as has been previously reported across the border.

Sachau doubts the changes will make any real difference.

"At the end of the day, this program is going to be as problematic as it always has been,” she said.

A group of migrants walk to line up in front of Border Patrol agents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally through the Yuma Sector near Somerton, Arizona, on Monday, Nov. 29, 2021.
A group of migrants walk to line up in front of Border Patrol agents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally through the Yuma Sector near Somerton, Arizona, on Monday, Nov. 29, 2021.

Need remains to 'strengthen partnerships,' nonprofit says

Hundreds of migrant families, effectively barred to ask for asylum under the Title 42 public health policy, are already waiting in Nogales, Sonora.

The Biden administration said it would continue to turn back migrants under Title 42. Those who are not turned back will be eligible to be enrolled in "Remain in Mexico" if they meet the criteria.

There currently are four shelters in the border city: the Kino Border Initiative migrant aid center, the San Juan Bosco Migrant Shelter, Casa de la Misericordia y Todas las Naciones, and La Roca shelter.

In early October, a nine-person committee representing the families met with Nogales Mayor Juan Francisco Gim at the Kino Border Initiative migrant aid center to express the needs and concerns of about 400 migrants living temporarily at the border.

Gim told the committee that his administration will work to offer temporary jobs and facilitate school enrollment for the children of asylum-seeking parents. In November, the city also donated 400 COVID-19 vaccines for Central American migrants, as well as Mexican citizens who were not able to register in Nogales.

Gim did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the situation from the Republic.

"I think those are all signs that there is a positive collaboration and partnership that is growing," said Del Pino, with KBI. That relationship will need to strengthen when MPP restarts, as more people will be in Nogales awaiting their court hearings, she said.

"We need to build more capacity within the community to receive these families, to receive these people."

KBI will make sure, for all migrants that go through the shelter, that their asylum process is being handled in a way that the new guidelines stipulate, Gia Del Pino said.

Gilda de Loureiro, director of San Juan Bosco shelter in Nogales, said officials with the United Nations Office for International Migration in Nogales informed her Thursday about the Biden administration’s decision to restart MPP.

San Juan Bosco is often the first stop for returned or deported migrants in Nogales, but, as with other shelters, it had to reduce its capacity because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since July, it has required a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination from migrants to stay there.

De Loureiro said the shelter stood ready to welcome more migrants. Currently, there are more than 100 migrants staying there, but it has the ability to provide an additional 200 beds if needed. Since the initial start of MPP in January 2020, it has waived a three-day stay maximum.

“We’re always ready to welcome people who need to stay at the shelter,” she said.

“There’s no certainty that they will stay in Nogales, but we do have to be prepared so that if it does happen, we’re not caught off guard.”

Safety, human rights concerns remain

Criminal groups often target migrant families. Shelters and human rights organizations documented thousands of cases of abuse against those waiting under the MPP program. Human Rights First, an international organization based in D.C. and New York City, recorded 1,500 reports of violent assault and kidnapping.

“The ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy was a humanitarian disaster when it was first implemented, and it is doomed to be so again,” said Eleanor Acer, Human Rights First senior director for refugee protection.

The organization announced it would continue to "document the human rights abuses suffered by people turned away to wait in danger," as MPP restarts.

The new guidelines are supposed to include considerations of local safety and shelter capacity, but it's still not clear how this will play out and whether Mexican authorities will change the way they attend to the humanitarian crisis.

“It’s disheartening the lack of a security strategy by Mexico’s federal and state government to protect migrants — whether they are from Mexico, Central America or the Caribbean — in their transit to the United States,” said Mexican legal scholar Arturo Castellanos-Canales, a policy and advocacy associate at the National Immigration Forum.

Mexico has responded to the large numbers of migrants moving through its territory as a national security issue. The country has deployed 27,000 National Guard troops mostly to Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, leading to numerous allegations of human rights violations.

The U.N. Committee against Forced Disappearance, which concluded its first official visit to Mexico last week, pointed out that migrants are a particularly vulnerable group and called on Mexican authorities to develop a prevention strategy.

Castellanos-Canales pointed out that society, in general, is also at fault, as it should demand more of Mexican authorities in their response to a humanitarian issue.

“We have all failed in the protection of migrant rights,” he said.

Have news tips or story ideas about the Arizona-Sonora borderlands? Reach the reporter at cmigoya@arizonarepublic.com or send a direct message on Twitter to @ClaraMigoya.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Remain in Mexico' restart brings human rights concerns to U.S. border