Press Coverage
This will cause human suffering: Immigrant advocate on Biden admin's planned asylum restrictions
Las Americas’ Executive Director, Marisa Limón Garza, speaks with MSNBC anchor, José Diaz-Balart.
Biden’s proposal denying asylum at border would cause ‘unnecessary suffering’, say critics
Proposal prompted comparisons to Trump’s policies to limit asylum for migrants, which Biden had pledged to reverse
By Sam Levine
Democrats and immigration advocates harshly criticized Joe Biden over a new proposal that could stop migrants claiming asylum when they arrive at the US-Mexico border. One advocate said the move would cause “unnecessary human suffering”.
The pushback came after the Biden administration unveiled a proposal that would deny asylum to migrants who arrive without first seeking it in one of the countries they passed through.
There are exceptions for children, people with medical emergencies and those facing imminent threats but if enacted the new proposal could stop tens of thousands of people claiming asylum in the US.
The move prompted comparisons to Donald Trump’s attempts to limit asylum for migrants traveling through other countries, attempts repeatedly struck down by federal courts. As a presidential candidate, Biden pledged to reverse those policies.
La Casa Blanca resalta efectividad del parole humanitario, expertos expresan escepticismo
Aunque la administración del presidente Joe Biden defiende que las medidas puestas en marcha han reducido notablemente la entrada de inmigrantes irregulares, los expertos ponen en entredicho el alcance real y a largo plazo de las mismas.
By Voz de America
Luego de un mes de la implementación del parole humanitario para ciudadanos de Nicaragua, Cuba y Haití, la Casa Blanca se ha mostrado orgullosa por el resultado de la medida que –según afirma- ha logrado bajar a números no vistos en meses los cruces ilegales por la frontera sur. Los expertos, sin embargo, expresan cierto escepticismo.
El plan, puesto en marcha el pasado 5 de enero y del que ya se beneficiaban los venezolanos, permite que -por medio de un patrocinador- hasta 30.000 inmigrantes se beneficien mensualmente del mismo a través de la aplicación CBP One, coordinando una cita para presentarse ante las autoridades migratorias estadounidenses.
“Ahora estamos viendo el número más bajo de cruces ilegales entre puertos de entrada desde febrero de 2021”, dijo el lunes Karine Jean-Pierre, la secretaria de prensa de la Casa Blanca, en intercambio con reporteros.
Hace una dos semanas, la agencia Reuters indicó –citando informes sin publicar de la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza (CBP)- que los encuentros de las autoridades con inmigrantes irregulares se había reducido en un 97 % respecto al mes anterior.
“El cruce fronterizo ilegal desde Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras ha disminuido significativamente en los últimos 18 meses. Esto se suma al impacto de las medidas de control fronterizo que anunció el presidente Biden el mes pasado, que han resultado en una disminución dramática en el cruce fronterizo ilegal con Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haití y Cuba”, reforzó Jean-Pierre.
Migrants grapple with government app to make asylum appointments
Biden administration touted expanded CBP One app as part of plans to address record number of unlawful U.S.-Mexico border crossings
By Suzanne Monyak
Chelsea Sachau, a lawyer with an Arizona-based nonprofit, had to help distract a squirming toddler and keep him still enough for a live photo, which is required in a new system for asylum appointments through a U.S. government smartphone app.
Hundreds of miles away, Gaby Muñoz, another nonprofit worker based in Ciudad Juárez, watched a migrant spend almost an hour trying to take a photo of herself that the app would accept.
And for many migrants seeking to make their asylum claim without crossing the border unlawfully, by the time they reach the screen to grab a coveted appointment slot, none were available, providers said in interviews.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection expanded the capability of its CBP One app earlier this month to allow migrants to make direct appointments to request protection at a port of entry, which the Biden administration touted as part of its plans to address a record number of unlawful U.S-Mexico border crossings.
But providers along the border say the app disadvantages the most vulnerable asylum-seekers who may not have access to a smartphone or consistent WiFi, or the tech savvy to navigate the platform. They described constant glitches, limited foreign language options, and a lack of transparency about how many appointments will be available each day.
Migrants held at Cibola County Correctional Center protest inhumane conditions
Griffin Ruston - KOB-TV
For the second time this year, migrants detained in New Mexico have reportedly staged a hunger strike to protest allegedly inhumane conditions inside privately-run detention facilities.
“The conditions for people who are detained there have become increasingly dire,” said Zoe Bowman. Bowman is an attorney with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center. She’s currently representing a few migrants detained inside the Cibola County Correctional Facility.
Bowman says more than 2 dozen migrants took part in a hunger strike starting on Oct. 19. According to a handwritten open letter signed by the group, they’ve suffered racist treatment, negligence psychological harm and even torture. Bowman says many of the migrants have also faced an inadequate immigration process.
“There are lots of issues with communication between the officials who work there, and the people in detention, trying to understand what’s going on in their legal case,” Bowman said.
The group of migrants includes men from Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Peru and Ecuador. Bowman says many of them were fleeing violence in their home countered for safety in the US, but they ended up inside privately-run detention facilities.
In the letter, the group says they reached a breaking point after a Brazilian man detained at the Torrance County Detention Facility committed suicide and a migrant at the Cibola County Facility attempted to take his life as well.
“I think the conditions there have become very dangerous. So many people are reaching a point of desperation,” Bowman said.
Immigrant Rights Advocates Call For Investigation Into Mental Healthcare Crisis In Torrance County Detention Facility
ACLU New Mexico
Immigrant rights organizations and direct legal service providers sent a letter to the ICE Health Service Corps on Friday requesting an urgent investigation into a worsening medical and mental healthcare crisis at the Torrance County Detention Facility.
The Torrance facility, in Estancia, is operated by the private prison company CoreCivic and detains immigrants and asylum seekers in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. The facility failed an ICE-contracted inspection last year and has been the subject of numerous civil rights complaints. It has been investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, which in a report just earlier this year called for the immediate depopulation of the facility after finding “egregious” conditions and medical deficiencies.
In August, Kesley Vial, an asylum seeker from Brazil, died following a fatal suicide attempt while detained in Torrance. Following his death, and in response to worsening conditions and unconscionably inadequate mental health care, people detained at Torrance staged a hunger strike.
The letter sent Friday was signed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, along with Innovation Law Lab, New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Justice For Our Neighbors (JFON) El Paso and Santa Fe Dreamers Project.
DHS meets with El Paso immigration group amid migrant influx
By Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, El Paso Matters
Days after one of the largest migrant crossings in the region, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas visited El Paso on Tuesday, where he met with local government and federal officials, as well as advocates who are responding to a recent influx of migrants
On Sunday night, more than 1,500 migrants waded across the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juárez into El Paso, with organizations scrambling to expand services for the newly arrived. With shelter beds at capacity, immigration officials released more than 600 people that weekend in Downtown El Paso. As temperatures drop this week, many recent migrants have begun sleeping at the airport and camping outside the Greyhound bus station until they can travel to their intended destination.
Marisa Limón Garza, executive director of Las Americas Immigration Advocacy Center, said she saw Mayorkas on Tuesday morning to discuss “realities of a post-Title 42 world” and how to balance humanitarian needs with an orderly system. The El Paso nonprofit provides legal services to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
During their meeting, Mayorkas shared the challenges of working with a Congress that is deeply divided on immigration issues. In November, U.S. House Republicans visited a Border Patrol complex in El Paso to call for Mayorkas’ resignation.
El Paso seeks state, federal help before expected migrant surge as end of Title 42 nears
By Martha Pskowski, El Paso Times
City of El Paso officials said Thursday they have requested state funds to assist in the city’s migrant response and called on the federal government to do more in the final days before Title 42 is expected to be lifted.
“Funding and sheltering is not the answer,” Mayor Oscar Leeser said. “It’s a Band-Aid to a bigger problem.”
City officials said that by working with state Sen. César Blanco, D-El Paso, they have been able to request state funds without declaring a state of emergency.
Leeser said he still does not consider a state of emergency necessary, as approximately 1,600 to 1,700 migrants and asylum-seekers are processed daily in the El Paso area. The majority are released to nonprofits and other partners, while between 200 and 500 people have been released into the community daily. Many are coming from countries like Nicaragua where the U.S. is not able to expel them under Title 42.
Title 42 was used as a COVID-19 mitigation protocol by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Trump administration beginning in March 2020. It allowed border officials to quickly expel migrants and close official ports of entry to asylum-seekers.
US plans for more migrant releases when asylum limits end
Rebecca Santana, Elliot Spagat - Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security said more migrants may be released into the United States to pursue immigration cases when Trump-era asylum restrictions end next week, when a Texas congressman says some border officials estimate about 50,000 migrants could be waiting to cross into the U.S.
In one of its most detailed assessments ahead of the major policy shift, the department reported faster processing for migrants in custody on the border, more temporary detention tents, staffing surges and increased criminal prosecutions of smugglers, noting progress on a plan announced in April.
But the seven-page document dated Tuesday included no major structural changes amid unusually large numbers of migrants entering the country. More are expected with the end of Title 42 authority, under which migrants have been denied rights to seek asylum more than 2.5 million times on grounds of preventing spread of COVID-19.
A federal judge in Washington ordered Title 42 to end Dec. 21 but Republican-led states asked an appeals court to keep it in place. The Biden administration has also challenged some aspects of the ruling, though it doesn’t oppose letting the rule lapse next week. The legal back-and-forth could go down to the wire.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas traveled this week to El Paso, Texas, which witnessed a large influx Sunday after becoming the busiest corridor for illegal crossings in October. El Paso has been a magnet for Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans, Colombians, Ecuadoreans and other nationalities.
EEUU planea liberar a más migrantes al terminar Título 42
Rebecca Santana - Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional señaló que podría dejar en libertad a más migrantes dentro de Estados Unidos en lo que se procesan sus casos de inmigración una vez que concluyan la próxima semana las restricciones al asilo implementadas durante el gobierno de Donald Trump.
El departamento reportó un menor tiempo de procesamiento para los migrantes detenidos en la frontera, más carpas de detención, aumento de personal y un incremento en el proceso penal de traficantes, resaltando su progreso en la implementación de un plan dado a conocer en abril.
Pero el documento de siete páginas con fecha del martes no incluyó ningún cambio estructural relevante en un momento en que se registra un alto número de migrantes que ingresan al país. Las autoridades esperan que lleguen todavía más una vez que finalice la medida conocida como Título 42, bajo la cual se les ha negado a los migrantes la posibilidad de solicitar asilo en más de 2,5 millones de ocasiones bajo el argumento de evitar la propagación del COVID-19.
Un juez federal en Washington ordenó el fin del Título 42 el 21 de diciembre, pero algunos estados con gobiernos republicanos solicitaron a una corte de apelaciones que mantuviera la medida en vigor. El gobierno federal también ha impugnado algunos aspectos del fallo, aunque no se opone a que concluya la aplicación de la norma la próxima semana. La disputa legal podría definirse de último minuto.
El secretario de Seguridad Nacional, Alejandro Mayorkas, viajó hace poco a El Paso, Texas, donde el domingo pudo ver una gran actividad migratoria después de que la zona se convirtiera en octubre pasado en el corredor de mayor actividad de cruces ilegales. El Paso ha sido un imán para venezolanos, nicaragüenses, cubanos, colombianos, ecuatorianos y migrantes de otras nacionalidades.
Russians find asylum lifeline to US, but at a high price
Elliot Spagat - Associated Press
CHULA VISTA, Calif. (AP) — Phil Metzger promises to arrange entry to the United States for Russian-speaking asylum-seekers through unmatched connections with U.S. border officials and people in Mexico who can guarantee safety while traveling. Though seeking asylum is free, the pastor of Calvary San Diego said his services are “not cheap.”
In an interview with a Russian-language YouTube channel, he touted direct computer access to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to enroll migrants and was vague about “opportunists” in Mexico who ensure customers’ safety after they fly there on tourist visas and while they wait in Tijuana to cross.
“I just know there’s a lot of power on that side that I just don’t control,” the evangelical Christian pastor said. “But I do have one control. I control who goes across. So I have to negotiate. To keep those people safe, I have to negotiate with those in power (in Mexico).”
Asylum is supposed to be free and for those most in need; many have been unable to even ask for protection under COVID-19 restrictions that are set to expire Wednesday.
Yet Metzger’s service, as described in the 25-minute interview last month at his church in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, is a private money-generating enterprise that uses its government connections to bypass those restrictions. It’s part of an opaque, bewildering patchwork of exemptions CBP has developed. Immigration advocates select who gets in, though CBP has final say.
Asked about an outside group charging money, the Department of Homeland Security said there is no fee related to exemptions from asylum restrictions and that it will “look into any allegation of abuse.”
Muchos rusos encuentran asilo en EEUU, pero a un precio alto
Elliot Spagat - Associated Press
CHULA VISTA, California, EE.UU. (AP) — Phil Metzger, pastor de una iglesia evangélica del área de San Diego, promete ayudar a ucranianos y personas de habla rusa que solicitan asilo en Estados Unidos a través de contactos inigualables con funcionarios estadounidenses y personas no identificadas que pueden garantizarles seguridad en suelo mexicano mientras esperan en la ciudad de Tijuana para cruzar la frontera.
Aunque solicitar asilo a Estados Unidos es gratis, el pastor de la Iglesia del Calvario en San Diego advierte que sus servicios “no son baratos”.
En una entrevista con un canal de YouTube en idioma ruso, Metzger promueve acceso directo por computadora a la Oficina de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de Estados Unidos (CBP por sus iniciales en inglés) para inscribir a estos migrantes. Hace referencias vagas acerca de unos “oportunistas” en México que garantizan la seguridad de sus clientes después de llegar a la nación vecina con visas de turista.
“Sólo sé que hay mucho poder de ese lado que simplemente no controlo”, afirma el pastor cristiano evangélico. “Pero tengo un control. Yo controlo quién cruza. Así que tengo que negociar. Para mantener a esas personas a salvo, tengo que negociar con los que están en el poder (en México)”, agrega.
Se supone que pedir asilo en Estados Unidos es gratuito y para los más necesitados, por no mencionar que muchos ni siquiera han podido pedir protección debido a las restricciones por COVID-19 de la era de Donald Trump y que expiran el 21 de diciembre.
Sin embargo, el servicio de Metzger —como se describe en la entrevista de 25 minutos otorgada el mes pasado en su iglesia en Chula Vista, un suburbio de San Diego— es una empresa privada generadora de dinero que utiliza conexiones gubernamentales para eludir tales restricciones. Es parte de un mosaico opaco y desconcertante de exenciones que ha desarrollado la CBP. Los defensores de los inmigrantes seleccionan quién ingresa, aunque la CBP tiene la última palabra.
Cuando se le preguntó de la existencia de una organización externa que cobra dinero, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos (DHS) explicó que no hay una tarifa relacionada con las exenciones a las restricciones de asilo y que “investigará cualquier acusación de abuso”.
El Paso mayor to continue working with immigration nonprofits despite state probe
Julian Resendiz - Border Report
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The mayor of El Paso says he will continue to work with local immigrant advocacy nonprofits despite allegations from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that some may be assisting migrants illegally cross into the United States.
Earlier this week, Abbott sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton calling him to launch the investigation.
“There have been recent reports that non-governmental organizations may have assisted with illegal border crossings near El Paso,” Abbott said in his letter. “We further understand NGOs may be engaged in unlawfully orchestrating other border crossings through activities on both sides of the border, including in sectors other than El Paso.”
On Thursday, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the city will include area nonprofits in its ongoing contingency plans for the planned Dec. 21 rollback of Title 42. The public health order has allowed border agents to quickly expel migrants back to Mexico, and its court-ordered termination worries local officials about increased migrant traffic in a city already dealing with 2,300 daily unauthorized crossings.
“These are allegations. We will continue to work with all the organizations within the community, make sure everyone’s safe and we do have some great NGOs,” Leeser said during a news conference. “You don’t react to allegations you continue to work with your partners.”
Further asked if the allegations will affect the trust between city officials and El Paso nonprofits, Leeser said it will not.
“We always have trust. That is a very important thing,” he said. “It is very important that we continue moving forward to help the city and do what we need to do to prepare for the possible end of Title 42. And all of us, not just the city but all of us who are working together right now, are preparing ourselves for that.”
After a long, hard journey many migrants end up stranded in El Paso
Nicole Chavez - CNN
El Paso and Ciudad Juárez — Dina Diaz walked slowly behind her husband on the streets of El Paso, Texas, trying to hide her defeat and frustration from their children. A social worker had escorted them to an emergency shelter only to be denied entry and within the hour, with the sunlight gone for the day, temperatures would quickly dip below freezing.
Moments before, the Nicaraguan mother of three children who is seven months pregnant, couldn't stop her eyes from watering when the social worker burst into tears, apologizing for coming empty-handed.
Diaz and her family are among the thousands of migrants who arrived in El Paso in the past week. They are part of a surge of border crossings overwhelming resources in this community — a crisis that is likely to worsen with the court-ordered end of Title 42 next week.
More than 2,500 people have arrived in El Paso each day in the past week, city officials said, warning that the number is expected to double after the federal policy is lifted.
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser has said his city is doing what it can to address the crisis.
"It's something that we're going to have to work with the UN and other countries to work through. It's a situation that again, is bigger than El Paso, and now it's become bigger than the United States," he told reporters earlier this week.
Texas border cities plan for cold, busy end to Title 42
Giovanna Dell'Orto, Morgan Lee, Acacia Coronado - Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Along the U.S. southern border, two cities — El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez in Mexico — prepared Sunday for a surge of as many as 5,000 new migrants a day as pandemic-era immigration restrictions expire this week, setting in motion plans for emergency housing, food and other essentials.
On the Mexican side of the international border, only heaps of discarded clothes, shoes and backpacks remained Sunday morning on the banks of the Rio Grande River, where until a couple of days ago hundreds of people were lining up to turn themselves in to U.S. officials. One young man from Ecuador stood uncertain on the Mexican side; he asked two journalists if they knew anything about what would happen if he turned himself in without having a sponsor in the U.S., and then gingerly removed sneakers and socks and hopped across the low water.
On the American side, by a small fence guarded by several Border Patrol vehicles, he joined a line of a dozen people who stood waiting with no U.S. officials in sight.
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego told The Associated Press on Sunday that the region, home to one of the busiest border crossings in the country, was coordinating housing and relocation efforts with groups and other cities, as well as calling on the state and federal government for humanitarian help. The area is preparing for an onslaught of new arrivals that could double their daily numbers once public health rule Title 42 ends on Wednesday.
Texas se alista para agitado fin del Título 42
Giovanna Dell'orto, Morgan Lee - Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas, EE.UU. (AP) — A lo largo de la frontera sur de Estados Unidos, dos ciudades —El Paso, Texas, y Ciudad Juárez, México— se alistaban el domingo para la llegada de hasta 5.000 migrantes más al día una vez que concluyan las restricciones migratorias relacionadas con la pandemia en los próximos días, poniendo en marcha planes para brindar albergue de emergencia, alimentos y otros servicios básicos.
Del lado mexicano de la frontera internacional, sólo quedaban montones de ropa usada, zapatos y mochilas en la mañana en las márgenes del río Bravo (Grande), donde hasta hace un par de días cientos de personas hacían fila para entregarse a las autoridades estadounidenses. Un joven ecuatoriano observaba indeciso desde el lado mexicano; les preguntó a dos periodistas si sabían algo de lo que le pasaría si se entregaba sin tener un patrocinador en Estados Unidos, y luego se quitó cautelosamente los zapatos y calcetines y empezó a caminar por el agua poco profunda.
Del lado estadounidense, junto a una pequeña valla resguardada por varios vehículos de la Patrulla Fronteriza, se sumó a una fila de una decena de personas que esperaban a la llegada de los agentes federales.
These ICE Detainees With High-Risk Medical Conditions Fought For Months To Be Released — And They’re Just The Ones We Know About
Adolfo Flores - BuzzFeed News Reporter
Josmith used to dread nightfall inside his ICE detention cell because it meant he’d be struggling to breathe for hours.
The 25-year-old Haitian asylum-seeker was diagnosed with asthma in 2015 and was able to control it with medication — but after entering ICE's Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, New Mexico, Josmith’s condition worsened as he struggled to breathe throughout the day, and it was always harder when he tried to sleep. Fear of catching COVID in the detention center’s tight quarters didn’t help.
Josmith said he felt like he was "suffocating" and that he "could die here."
ICE detainees like Josmith, who due to preexisting medical conditions are at greater risk of serious side effects from contracting COVID-19, can be released under a federal court injunction issued in 2020. Amid soaring COVID rates, a judge at the time ordered authorities to identify all ICE detainees who are at higher risk of severe illness and death and to strongly consider releasing them unless they posed a danger to property or people.
In an Oct. 7, 2020, court filing in the case, US District Judge Jesus Bernal said that “only in rare cases” would ICE fail to release at-risk immigrants who are not subject to mandatory detention.
Hundreds of immigrants have since been released. But as the pandemic progressed, attorneys and advocates said immigrants like Josmith fell through the cracks. In order to get some medically vulnerable people released, attorneys had to pressure ICE, but advocates said that’s not a solution for detainees who don’t have access to legal representation.
How Would Biden’s Supreme Court Nominee Handle Immigration Cases?
By Emma Winger, Immigration Impact
President Biden has nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the United States Supreme Court. With nearly a decade as a federal judge, Judge Jackson’s record may provide some clues about how she would handle immigration cases as a Supreme Court Justice.
Immigration law has three main components: Federal statutes passed by Congress, regulations created by federal agencies, and federal court decisions. As a result, the Supreme Court plays a central role in shaping immigration law. Just this term, the Supreme Court will decide four key immigration-related cases.
A Look at Ketanji Brown Jackson's Most Noteworthy Judicial Decisions
By John G. Malcolm
On March 21, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing will begin. Senators will be scrutinizing her past judicial opinions on critical issues from labor law to illegal immigration to presidential claims of executive privilege. This brief overview of several of those key opinions provides some insight into her general approach to resolving legal issues.
Jackson has been through this confirmation process three times before—when she was nominated to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, to the district court, and to the D.C. Circuit—but it is safe to say that a lot more people are going to be paying attention this time.
Migrant misses U.S. court date after being kidnapped in Mexico, putting future in limbo
By Anastasiya Bolton
EL PASO, Texas — The border between Mexico and the U.S. stands between Hugo and life without fear. Hugo told KENS 5, he left Ecuador to be safe from political persecution, live as a gay man who doesn’t have to hide.
Since Hugo’s still not safe, on the other side of the border from El Paso, KENS 5 is not using his last name and not showing his face in the video version of this story.