What’s really happening at the border?
For Immediate Release: December 12, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, media@las-americas.org
BREAKING: Biden’s Sellout Will Lead to Chaos, Suffering, and Death at U.S.-Mexico Border
EL PASO, TEXAS – Following reports that the Biden administration is considering reviving Title 42 and expanding immigration detention and deportation, Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and New Mexico, said:
“It is shameful that President Biden is putting the lives of children, families and vulnerable people in danger while using aid for Ukraine as an excuse. Bringing back Title 42 and keeping people from accessing safety and due process is not a solution; doing so will only revive the chaotic and unsafe circumstances at the border that haunted the Biden administration before. Title 42 didn’t stop people from coming then and it won’t now. We cannot go backwards when it comes to building an orderly and humane border.
“Expanding immigration detention and locking up immigrants seeking safety and prosperity is not a solution. Doing this will only see the federal government go out of its way to cage hundreds of thousands of men, women, children, and families because they see the U.S. as a place of hope and opportunity. We cannot go backwards on respecting human dignity.
“Doubling down on immigration enforcement across the U.S. by expanding expedited removal is not a solution. Doing so will drive immigrants into the shadows afraid to work, go to school, seek medical care, or report crimes. We cannot go backwards on community wellbeing.
“Raising the fear standard for someone to have a qualifying asylum claim is not a solution because the people arriving at our borders have no idea how our asylum system works. Doing this will mean that vulnerable people facing threats will be deported to their deaths. We cannot go backwards on protecting human lives.
“Four bad ideas. Four bad ideas that will make the border chaotic. Four bad ideas that will hurt communities across the nation. Four bad ideas that will cost thousands of human lives.
“Good ideas are out there that support communities doing the work of welcome at the border. Good ideas would expand legal pathways and update the asylum system for the 21st century. Good ideas would add immigration judges, asylum officers, and staff at ports-of-entry. Good ideas would use the President’s parole authority to expand safe, orderly, legal means for immigrants to enter the country. Why ignore these good ideas to chase the empty promises and known failures of those four bad ideas?
“We urge Congress to vote down a bill with any of these bad ideas rather than follow the Biden administration’s path to failure at the border.”
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For Immediate Release: December 5, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, media@las-americas.org
Organizations Across Texas Stress the Damaging Impact of Senate Bill 4 on Vulnerable Populations and Communities
A recording of the press call can be found here
TEXAS – Ahead of Governor Abbott’s signing of Senate Bill 4, a group of legal experts, advocates, and faith-based organizations across Texas met with national and local press to discuss the legal implications of SB 4 and how the bill will affect thousands of individuals, families, and children seeking refuge and asylum, as well as communities of color across Texas and New Mexico.
During the fourth special legislative session, the Texas House of Representatives passed two anti-immigrant bills, Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 3. SB 4 authorizes any and all law enforcement to arrest, and judges to order removed, anyone suspected of having entered Texas without papers. SB 4 is expected to be signed by Governor Abbott soon and will go into effect 91 days after the fourth legislative session ends. During the press call, speakers urged the Department of Justice to step in and immediately halt SB 4’s inherent discrimination from moving forward. A potentially impacted person shared her story and experience as a Texan and community member.
“If signed into law, SB 4 will directly harm people seeking asylum, BIPOC communities, and the core principles of our democracy. In all the partisan politics about immigration, it is imperative that we remember we are human beings too,” said Katia Elisea-Escobar, a potentially impacted community member with Woori Juntos. “We have family, friends, dreams, and aspirations too just like everyone else, we want to be happy and be safe. We urge elected officials to recognize that and immediately stop SB 4 from being implemented.”
Read Full Statement | En Español
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For Immediate Release: November 28, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, media@las-americas.org
Las Americas Opposes Negotiations Trading Migrant Lives for Political Gain
“It is imperative that we treat all individuals with the dignity and humanity they deserve”
EL PASO, TEXAS – In response to reports that a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators are holding Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan funding hostage by demanding extreme lasting changes on immigration policy on the supplemental funding bill, including poison pills that would gut the asylum system and create chaos at the border, Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and New Mexico, said:
“Gutting our asylum system and simultaneously undermining legal pathways like parole, as Sens. Murphy, Bennet and Lankford are suggesting, is not just counter productive, it is actively self-defeating. This approach will create chaos in borderland communities doing the work of welcoming, put migrants at greater risk of exploitation, abuse, and death, and actually strengthen the operations of transnational criminal organizations at the border.
“In fact, the whole focus on the asylum system is misplaced; the Senate should be looking for solutions that bolster existing legal pathways to migrate, and create new ones, like temporary work permits, so that immigrants don't see asylum as the only option available to them. These are the sorts of measures that will actually make the U.S.-Mexico border the orderly, safe, and humane place Americans want it to be.
“From our perspective, rooted in communities and work on both sides of the border, we uniquely understand the dangers facing asylum seekers and the need to respond with compassion to their trauma. We also uniquely understand how decades of harsh enforcement approaches have failed, both on their own terms and to meet these basic human needs. It is imperative that we treat all individuals with the dignity and humanity they deserve, rather than standing by cruelty and hatred as a political bargain. Politicians from both sides must put aside their agendas and work together to fix our country's broken immigration system. Lives depend on it.”
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For Immediate Release: November 7, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, media@las-americas.org
Las Americas Reacts to Latest Political Ploy by Senate GOP
“Those who believe that imposing further restrictions on asylum will discourage migration are embarrassingly uninformed”
EL PASO, TEXAS – Yesterday, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and James Lankford (R-OK) outlined the Senate GOP's border policy demands in the negotiations over the Biden administration's $106 billion national security supplemental request. In response, Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and New Mexico, shared the following statement:
“Borderland communities and migrants will not be served up on a silver platter for political consumption. We are just as important a component of the American fabric as any other region. Whether Democrats or Republicans like it or not, the right to seek asylum is legal. It’s disgusting to think that the militarization of my hometown or stripping the rights of vulnerable migrants is seen as merely a bargaining chip to trade for military support in Ukraine, Israel, or Taiwan.
“The Biden administration had promised to reinstate the United States' commitment to a just and compassionate immigration system. Those who believe that imposing further restrictions on asylum will discourage migration are embarrassingly uninformed. The factors compelling individuals to leave their homes will not cease simply because Washington politicians delude themselves into believing in the failed policies of previous administrations. President Biden must not succumb to the temptation of a short-term political victory at the expense of migrant lives at the southern border.”
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For Immediate Release: October 26, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, media@las-americas.org
Texas House Advances Anti-Immigrant Bills, Endangering Communities and Immigrants Alike
“These bills promote discrimination, undermine our civil and constitutional rights, and go against our values of welcoming. Texans deserve real solutions, and these bills aren’t that.”
EL PASO, TEXAS – Yesterday, the Texas House passed three bills, SB 4, HB 6, and HB 4, after hours of heated debate until early this morning. The State Senate will review HB 6 and HB 4, while Governor Abbott is expected to sign SB 4 into law.
Robert Heyman, Strategic Advisor at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, in El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and New Mexico, shared the following statement:
“As SB 4, HB 6, and HB 4 move forward in the Texas Legislature, we must remember these are unnecessary, wasteful measures based on a fundamental misunderstanding of immigration and border issues. HB 4, in particular, undermines and short-circuits the asylum process, harming vulnerable people in need. It eliminates due process, including fundamental rights prohibiting detention without an arrest and trial. It will shatter Texas’ communities.
“Bills like HB 4 and HB 6, rest on the idea that deterrence and locking up our neighbors are solutions. We must unite as a community against these anti-immigrant bills. These bills promote discrimination, undermine our civil and constitutional rights, and go against our values of welcoming. Texans deserve real solutions, and these bills aren’t that.
“We call upon our leaders to take action and propose tangible solutions that benefit all Texans, regardless of immigration status. Our state is in need of responsible and effective policies that prioritize the well-being of our communities. It's time for our government to stop making the same failed choices of xenophobia and hatred and start addressing the issues that truly matter to us. We will not be silent until we see real change.”
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For Immediate Release: October 16, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, media@las-americas.org
BREAKING: Biden Administration Reaches Settlement with Families Separated Under Trump-Miller Zero-Tolerance Policy
“This case serves as a stark reminder of the indispensable role that local experiences, knowledge, and expertise can play in driving national policy conversations and illuminating the human realities of the border.”
EL PASO TEXAS - The Biden administration made an announcement today that it has reached a settlement with families who were separated during the Trump administration's ‘zero-tolerance’ policy. This settlement includes restrictions on the government's ability to implement a similar policy in the future, as part of an effort to resolve a longstanding court case.
Las Americas was one of the first organizations in El Paso, a testing ground for this and many other immigration policies, to respond to the violent separation of migrant children from their parents happening at the U.S.-Mexico border. We led the response starting in the fall of 2017, months before the Trump Administration publicly pushed to do this border-wide. In those first months, Las Americas provided legal support to more than seventy separated families and documented the impact of this practice on hundreds more.
Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and New Mexico, shared the following statement:
“Family separation, or zero-tolerance policy, is the defining policy failure of the Trump administration — and one for which all Americans must hold all current and past administration officials accountable. Thousands of children were ripped from their parents arms, jailed in cages and camps, and our government ignored its own laws allowing vulnerable people to seek asylum at our borders.
“Experiences like Keldy’s were key to driving forward litigation against family separation. This, in particular, was heart wrenching work, and we were only able to persist and see it through because of the resolve of the parents we were serving. Their strength, love, and determination, alongside all of those impacted, in confronting such an egregious wrong, made this settlement possible.
“This case serves as a stark reminder of the indispensable role that local experiences, knowledge, and expertise can play in driving national policy conversations and illuminating the human realities of the border. It is imperative that we include those communities when discussing border policy, and never forget that the policies made in conference rooms in D.C. may not align with the practices in borderland communities. Our government must be held accountable for its actions, and cannot obscure its atrocities by using jargon and euphemisms like zero-tolerance while perpetrating perverse acts like separating toddlers and children from their parents.
“While this settlement can never fully undo the harm and horror that these separated families had to endure as U.S. government policy, it gives legal power to the moral imperative that we can never let family separations happen again. We call on Congress to do their part and enshrine this prohibition on family separations at the border as a permanent part of U.S. law.”
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For Immediate Release: September 21, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Biden Expands TPS to Venezuela; While Also Further Militarizing Our Borderland
EL PASO, TEXAS – Yesterday, the Biden administration expanded temporary protected status for Venezuela, making close to 500,000 Venezuelan migrants eligible to apply for work permits. At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced another series of harmful actions to increase enforcement across the U.S-Mexico border.
Marisa Limon Garza, Executive Director of Las Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso Texas, Ciudad Juárez, and New Mexico, shared the following statement:
“Yesterday, the Biden administration announced the redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans - a positive step forward that will provide new protections and opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans already residing in the United States. Additionally, this announcement recognizes that individuals who enter the country through CBPOne are eligible for immediate employment, a tremendous improvement. These measures will provide much-needed stability to newly arrived migrants and help relieve communities-at the border and in the interior- doing the essential and humane work of welcome.
“However, it must not go unnoticed that elements of DHS’ announcement keep doubling down on deterrence–a policy that has been failing the United States at the southern border for decades. Measures such as resources to speed up the adjudication of deportation orders, the expansion of a family removal program nationwide, and the deployment of military personnel to the border will not stop immigrants from seeking safety and a better life in the U.S. Instead, they will only make our failures costlier for American taxpayers and more harmful for immigrants and asylum seekers. We must not continue to rely on deadly enforcement practices that tear families apart and harm vulnerable communities.
“We urge the Biden administration to reconsider these harmful measures. Likewise, we call on Congress to roll back the excessive presence of patrol officers and vehicles at the border and halt the development of new enforcement infrastructure that perpetuates failed enforcement strategies. It is essential for the American public to know that another border, more orderly and humane, is possible. It's not too late to make the borderlands a refuge for vulnerable people. The borderlands should not be a place of death and persecution but a source of life for those who depend on it.”
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For Immediate Release: September 7, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
BREAKING: Biden Considers Restricting Lawful Asylum Seekers’ Right to Travel Travel Within U.S.
“Cruel asylum policies and treating people as a burden has human consequences”
EL PASO, TEXAS – According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, the Biden administration is considering forcing migrant families to remain in Texas while awaiting their asylum screening.
The proposal is inspired by similar efforts from President Reagan’s administration to limit asylum seeker’s movements in the 1980’s.
Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso Texas and Ciudad Juárez, shared the following statement:
“When people cross borders their human rights come with them. Politicians like Mayor Adams, Governor Abbott, and President Biden cannot continue playing games with the lives of thousands of children and families. Migrants are not hot potatoes. Cruel asylum policies and treating people as a burden has human consequences.
“Realizing our values as a country is a collective lift, one that will make us stronger. At this moment it means using resources to treat people humanely, and reforming our legal immigration system to create more robust and orderly pathways to find safety and opportunity in the U.S. And it means dismantling the deadly barriers that kill and injure those on the move. Anything short of this, whether seeking to shirk this moral duty or worse actively imperil the safety of these migrants, is needlessly cruel and self-defeating.”
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For Immediate Release: August 28, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Las Americas Reacts to Violent Shooting Against Mexican Migrant By Texas National Guard
“Over-militarizing our borders doesn't keep us safe or deter violence - in fact, it contributes to tremendous amounts of violence in our communities”
EL PASO, TEXAS – On Saturday, August 26th, a member of the National Guard at the Texas-Mexico border in El Paso shot across the Rio Grande and wounded a 37-year-old Mexican man in Ciudad Juárez. In response, Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, shared the following statement:
"Once again, Abbott’s administration’s decision to double down on lethal force has led to the bloodshed of innocent people. We know that over-militarizing our borders doesn't keep us safe or deter violence - in fact, it contributes to tremendous amounts of violence in our communities. This includes the growing number of high-speed chases that result from Operation Lone Star.
“Abbott has repeatedly lied about immigrants invading our country, continues to tear families seeking safety apart at our borders and dehumanizes them to boot. We urge the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate this additional abuse perpetrated under Operation Lone Star.”
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For Immediate Release: August 21, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org; Ian Philabaum, ian@innovationlawlab.org; Sophia Genovese, sgenovese@nmilc.org; Maria Archuleta, marchuleta@aclu-nm.org
Leading Advocacy Organizations Submit Federal Complaint Regarding Ongoing Human Rights Violations at Torrance County Detention Facility
“The abuses you receive here in this prison bring you to think and feel anguish, depression.” –Jilson Pazmino, detained in TCDF, July 5, 2023
NEW MEXICO – This week, the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC), Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center (LAIAC), Innovation Law Lab, and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) submitted a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and other oversight agencies, calling for an immediate investigation into ongoing due process violations and human rights abuses at Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF). These organizations call on DHS to terminate its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contract at TCDF. The complaint is available online here.
The complaint exposes systemic due process violations in the credible fear interview (CFI) process at TCDF, including interference with access to counsel, problematic and unlawful practices during the CFIs, failure to properly serve noncitizens their documents, and inadequate review of erroneous decisions by DHS and the immigration court.
Drawing on the accounts of hundreds of people detained, the complaint documents ongoing conditions violations and mistreatment of noncitizens by ICE and CoreCivic staff in the facility such as negligent medical and mental health care, physical assaults by guards, labor exploitation, and retaliation by staff.
Sophia Genovese, Managing Attorney at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, said: “DHS and its contractor cannot ensure the health and safety of people in ICE custody at the Torrance County Detention Facility. They could not do so when the facility reopened in 2019, and they remain unable to do so through 2023. Indeed, when confronted with these issues, DHS deflects and misleads the public into thinking nothing is wrong. DHS did this last year, and as a result, someone died. DHS’s continuous failure to meaningfully address the numerous complaints out of the facility leads to thousands more people being subjected to the same torturous conditions, day in and day out. It’s time for Secretary Mayorkas to finally acknowledge the problems plaguing TCDF and cancel DHS’s contract at the facility.”
Zoe Bowman, Senior Attorney at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, said: “In Torrance County Detention Facility, migrants have no chance at having their cases heard fairly or of being guaranteed their physical safety. Our team has witnessed numerous vulnerable individuals who have been treated inhumanely, including unethical conduct by medical professionals and retaliation against migrants who report abuse, as well as severe violations of due process that blatantly disregard human dignity and life. Using detainees as pawns, private companies such as CoreCivic, with no accountability or oversight, have garnered profits while maintaining terrible track records of mistreating and abusing people. This needs to end now. It is well past time for DHS to cut contracts and for the agency to reckon with its human rights abuses. We call on the Biden administration and DHS to put an end to this cruelty, and create more legal pathways that are open, fair, and accessible. Lives are at stake.”
Ian Philabaum, Program Director at Innovation Law Lab, said: “The DHS and ICE use the Torrance County Detention Facility as an expedited deportation factory and have demonstrated time and time again that they regard the repeated legal and human rights violations that occur in TCDF as collateral damage. Every week for multiple years we have heard the same complaints over and over from people detained in TCDF, highlighting that these violations have real human consequences – untreated medical conditions, psychological damage, and death. It’s time to hold ICE and DHS to account and shut down TCDF once and for all.”
Max Brooks, Staff Attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said: “We should be welcoming people seeking asylum with dignity, not shunting them to remote, poorly managed detention centers like Torrance County Detention Facility. This report shows that it’s not a safe facility and the staff can’t be trusted to respect asylum-seekers’ rights. They're not even able to handle the bare minimum, like providing basic privacy for asylum interviews. It’s egregious, and New Mexicans shouldn’t accept it.”
Central to this complaint are twenty declarations from noncitizens detained at TCDF, collected by Las Americas. These declarations corroborate claims of lack of privacy during CFIs and deeply flawed CFI practices and procedures. One individual, for instance, was forced to undergo his credible fear interview within hearing distance of six other detained men, including one from the same rural region of his home country who could inform the individual's persecutors.
The complaint also includes detailed case examples provided by NMILC showing the aftermath of this flawed process: that many people with strong claims for relief and facing great danger in their home countries are nonetheless ordered removed from TCDF, and that DHS and the immigration courts systematically fail to provide meaningful review of erroneous determinations.
Further the report also highlights accounts gathered by Innovation Law Lab detailing abysmal conditions at TCDF, including a man physically attacked by guards in July of 2023 and then denied basic treatment of his injuries for many days, food described as “disgusting” and “unfit for human consumption,” injuries caused by deferred maintenance, failure to pay noncitizens even the incredibly low sub-minimum wages promised them for work at TCDF, and widespread fear of retaliation for reporting abuses.
Advocates and noncitizens call on DHS to terminate its contract at TCDF, to cease further transfer of detained individuals to TCDF, to release individuals currently detained at TCDF with Notices to Appear in immigration court or pending appeals, and to investigate the systemic and specific violations and harms cited in this complaint.
“The guards mistreat us psychologically. They shout at us and only give us what we need when they want to. They say bad things to us when they want to. The food is very bad; I myself eat almost nothing. I’ve lost a lot of weight here. I ask, please, that a group of reporters come to review this place and make a documentary of this prison so that the world will understand what we’re living through here. I hope that my testimony will serve so that they close this place and don’t bring more people here.” –Carlos Leonel Funez Monrroy, detained in TCDF, July 5, 2023
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The New Mexico Immigrant Law Center is a non-profit organization seeking to advance justice and equity by empowering low-income immigrant communities through collaborative legal services, advocacy, and education.
Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit providing high-quality legal services to low income immigrants. Since its founding in 1987, Las Americas has served close to 70,000 persons, with a strong focus on women, children, families, the LGBTQ community and asylum seekers.
Innovation Law Lab leverages the law, technology and organizing to end isolation and exploitation of immigrants and refugees, build permanent pathways to immigrant inclusion, and advance justice.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico works to advance justice, liberty, and equity as guaranteed by the constitutions of New Mexico and the United States.
For Immediate Release: August 4, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
El Paso Immigrant Advocacy Organization Reacts to Reports that Abbott Administration is Separating Families
EL PASO, TEXAS – Texas has separated at least 26 migrant family units on the southern border since July 10 under Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border initiative.
Marisa Limón Garza, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center’s Executive Director in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, said:
“The separation of families as part of Operation Lone Star is unconscionable and must end immediately. The American public knows the devastating impact of these actions by now. We will not stand idly by and watch Governor Abbott and Operation Lone Star inflict cruelty for cruelty’s sake. We urge the federal government to do everything in their power to reverse Abbott’s inhumane policies, and bring justice to all families impacted by Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.”
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For Immediate Release: August 3, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Four Years Since Deadly Walmart Attack, Victims Continue to Be Impacted
“Before the attack, August 3rd was a day of celebration and love. Now it is a day filled with grief and anxiety.”
EL PASO, TEXAS – On August 3, 2019, a gunman killed 23 people and wounded 22 at a Walmart in El Paso. He drove more than 650 miles from Allen, a suburb in North Texas. His racist manifesto described the attack as a “response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
Four years later, individuals impacted by this terrorist attack continue to live in fear, and do not have access to the resources, or protection, they need to heal. This is particularly damaging for immigrants and undocumented persons here in the borderlands.
Ana, community member and victim of the El Paso Walmart Shooting, shared the following statement:
“I will never forget the face of my son Eduardito as he dragged me out of the Walmart that day. Before the attack, August 3rd was a day of celebration and love, as it is my husband's birthday. Now it is a day filled with grief and anxiety.While I have tried to heal from this horrific attack against people like me and my children, the trauma may remain for the rest of our lives. Our community should not have a target on their backs simply for existing. I urge community leaders and elected officials to help families like mine gain peace and stability.”
Christina Garcia, Deputy Director, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso Texas and Ciudad Juárez, shared the following statement:
“Four years ago, El Pasoans experienced one of the deadliest attacks against the immigrant community. Despite how much time has passed, more must be done to bring justice to individuals, like Ana, whose lives were forever altered by this terrorist attack. It is our commitment to always honor the memories of the 23 victims, and to care for those directly impacted, and their loved ones. Our organization has submitted over 50 U visa applications for survivors and family members of the deceased. Only one has been approved. Our clients are mothers and fathers who have bills to pay today; they have to drive their children to school; and wait up to five years for help that would allow them to support their families - that's cruel.
“We urge the federal government to help ensure that those harmed by this terrorist attack can seek safety in our country. This includes Congress removing the statutory cap on U visas and doing more to get applicants deferred action and work permits. For Black and Brown communities, hate and anti-immigrant rhetoric have devastating effects. We also call on members of Congress to refrain from echoing the same dangerous rhetoric as the white nationalist mass shooter. Never forget.”
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For Immediate Release: July 25, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
El Paso Immigrant Advocacy Organization Welcomes Federal Judge Ruling Against Biden’s Asylum Ban
“President Biden’s asylum ban is illegal and dangerous, just like his predecessor’s racist travel ban”
EL PASO, TEXAS – Today, a federal judge ruled that President Biden’s asylum ban, which was implemented to replace Title 42, is in violation of U.S. asylum law.
In 2018, Judge Jon Tigar of the California Northern District Court previously ruled against the Trump administration’s travel ban.
Jennifer Babaie, Director of Advocacy and Legal Services at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, shared the following statement:
“Las Americas welcomes today’s decision issued by a federal judge presiding in San Francisco. Judge Jon Tigar has recognized that all individuals have the legal right to apply for asylum regardless of how they enter U.S. territory. President Biden’s asylum ban is illegal and dangerous, just like his predecessor’s racist travel ban, causing irreparable damage to countless individuals every single day since its implementation.
“Our team has been at the forefront of the fight to permanently end family separation and fully restore access to our asylum system. Our government needs to invest in the legal and humanitarian infrastructures designed to protect vulnerable people on the move and focus on the dignity and humanity of people seeking safety at our borders. By doing so, we can ensure a border that is safe, humane, and orderly while meeting our legal and ethical obligations.
“Although there is a long way to go before we are rid of this policy for good, this is an important reminder for those of us that care about a humane U.S. immigration system to continue to push back against any more restrictions on the right to asylum in this country.”
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For Immediate Release: July 5, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
El Paso Walmart Attack Federal Sentencing, an Opportunity to Halt Hateful Rhetoric Against Immigrant Communities
“We do not have to accept this. We can embrace tolerance and care. We can reject violence, division, and hate.”
EL PASO, TEXAS — Today, the sentencing hearing for the El Paso Walmart gunman is set to begin. The shooter is expected to face the families of his victims. Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center has advocated for 29 families and individuals impacted by this horrific terrorist attack for almost four years.
Gloria Amesquita, a spokesperson and legal assistant with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, shared the following statement:
“Four years ago, a violent man, espousing hateful rhetoric, and driven by a xenophobic worldview, came to our community. He killed 23 people and injured 23 more. Since that day, Las Americas has proudly worked to ensure that immigrant victims of that heinous attack have the support they need. I am proud of the immigrant victims of this shooting who have contributed to our community and are on a path to justice and healing.
“Today marks a milestone in this process. However, it has not come easily and reminds us of how much care and support we must continue to provide each other. To the victims, I thank them for their resilience and courage. I also offer my gratitude for Las Americas' continued commitment to doing all we can to meet their immigration and humanitarian needs. In addition, we urge the federal government to take steps to ensure that those harmed by this terrorist attack have access to mental health resources and can seek safety in our country.
“I sound a warning to the rest of the community and the nation. While these sentencing proceedings provide some closure to this tragedy, the conditions in our society that produced this hate and violence remain and have grown more perilous. Our politicians toss around rhetoric that echoes, verbatim, the shooter; his hate reverberates across our TVs and Twitter feeds. As a country, we are bullied into letting our fears define our lives and the world, but doing so yields only mortal peril. We do not have to accept this. We can embrace tolerance and care. We can reject violence, division, and hate. We can ignore those offering anger and overcome those bullying us into being our vile selves.”
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For Immediate Release: May 30, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Since Title 42's End, More Migrants Are Being Detained and Denied Their Human Right To Seek Asylum
EL PASO, TEXAS — Roughly three weeks have passed since the end of Title 42, two children have died in CBP custody and hundreds of people are still stranded in Mexico because of CBPOne, an app plagued with errors since the Biden administration launched it in January.
Crystal Sandoval, Las Américas' México Co-Director and Director of Strategic Initiatives in Ciudad Juárez, México said:
“Even before Title 42 ended, Biden's changes made for a more punitive border. Asylum-seekers are forced to rely on a flawed government agency application, becoming sitting ducks. Take for example, Maria* (whose name we have changed to protect her identity). Maria* was kidnapped for three weeks by organized crime in Ciudad Juárez. During that period, she was continuously tortured and assaulted by her captors. They threatened to kill her if her family did not pay the ransom. Maria* lives in constant fear of being identified by her attackers and avoids leaving the shelter where she is unless it is strictly necessary. To this day, Maria* cannot register on the CBP One application. She cannot request an appointment since her cell phone does not support this platform.
“Thousands of migrants face the same reality as Maria: being forced to wait in a country where they face persecution for who they are, what they do, or love. We can't continue like this. This is the time where we should be working to create humane common-sense solutions by investing, improving and making our asylum system safer.”
Marisa Limón Garza, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center’s Executive Director in El Paso, Texas, said:
“By immediately implementing an asylum ban as soon Title 42 ended, the Administration created more confusion for cartels to exploit. We know that any time there is a change in policy at the border, people who try to profit from desperate families seeking safety in the US use that as an opportunity to spread disinformation and take advantage of folks trying to reach the U.S. safely. With our work on the ground, we see this daily - mothers and fathers desperate to take their children to safety and instead fall victim to misinformation and empty promises.
“The Biden administration’s asylum ban drives families and refugees directly into the hands of organized crime and feeds into problematic and incorrect narratives about the border. President Biden must reverse course and honor his campaign promises to build diverse, working legal pathways so people can safely come to the U.S.”
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For Immediate Release: May 11, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Title 42: A Shameful Legacy of the Biden Administration
EL PASO, TEXAS – Today, Title 42, an archaic public health order used to prevent asylum seekers from seeking safety at our southern border, expires. An asylum ban proposed by the Biden administration is set to replace it, putting hundreds of thousands of migrants even more at risk.
Marisa Limón Garza, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center’s Executive Director in El Paso, Texas, shared the following statement:
“For more than three years, Title 42 has ravaged border communities and the country, separating countless families and putting thousands in danger. Tens of thousands of people have been stranded in Mexico — waiting for their chance to seek safety in the U.S.
“Las Americas has provided direct assistance to more than 4,000 people seeking safety via pathways made unavailable under Title 42, especially for Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ immigrants, as well as those with severe medical conditions. As we reflect on the senseless tragedies this policy caused and look to the future of immigration law in the U.S, we must highlight that any new solutions to border processing prioritize the individuals seeking safety rather than on deterrence measures that are proven ineffective and which increase the power of immigration enforcement agencies to remove individuals and families from the U.S. with little to no oversight or options for judicial review.
“The end of title 42 presented the Biden administration with an opportunity to restore humanity to our immigration system. It is deeply troubling that despite the immense harm caused by Title 42, the Biden administration has once again, deliberately, turned its back on vulnerable people seeking safety at our borders with its proposed asylum ban. We need long-term solutions, including more accessible legal pathways to enter the U.S., not less. We cannot continue to rely on expedited removal and rapid screening processes in out-of-reach detention centers, which are ill-equipped to provide adequate language access, access to legal counsel, and medical care for migrants across the southern border.
“As a nation that upholds human rights, we must meet this moment with resolve. It is time we all step up and do our part to advocate for a better way forward.”
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For Immediate Release: May 10, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Las Americas IAC Reacts to Biden Admin Asylum Ban
EL PASO, TEXAS – Last night, the Biden administration released a final rule that will illegally ban many refugees from asylum protections in the United States.
Jennifer Babaie, Director of Advocacy and Legal Services with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, released the following statement:
“With the implementation of these new policies, the administration is going out of its way to be cruel and further human misery instead of reallocating resources and seeking meaningful solutions that would protect our communities. It is an insult to the individuals seeking safety, and to the groups that work with them and the communities that house them, to lift one deadly policy only to replace it with another. Many many people fleeing for their lives will be banned from seeking protection and entering the country because of this xenophobic, racist policy. Both US and international law protect the right to seek asylum, regardless of whether someone arrives by air or foot, at a bridge or through a river
“President Biden campaigned to roll back the harmful policies of the Trump administration, a promise they have now callously and repeatedly broken. Vulnerable people arriving at our borders need humanitarian assistance, community care, case management services, and welcome, not cruelty, not deterrence, and not further risks of harm.”
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For Immediate Release: May 2, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
BREAKING: Las Americas Reacts To Biden Admin Latest Military Deployment to U.S.-Mexico Border
“Once again we are witnessing the Administration’s refusal to offer concrete solutions in favor of deterrence measures”
EL PASO, TEXAS – Today, the Biden Administration announced it plans to send 1,500 active duty soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border for 90 days.
Jennifer Babaie, Director of Advocacy and Legal Services at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, shared the following statement:
“People seeking safety should be met with compassion and care, not with a show of intimidation. We have serious concerns with the reference to U.S. troops being deployed for “detection and monitoring.” These words offer no transparency to an already tense situation. The administration has had more than a year to prepare for the end of Title 42 and a return to regular processing at the border. During that time, border advocates have repeatedly stressed that what we need is coordination and funds to help us safely greet asylum seekers as they enter our communities.
“Once again we are witnessing the Administration’s refusal to offer concrete solutions in favor of deterrence measures, completely distorting any meaningful access to safety for the families who are crossing. We’ve seen this before and we know this will only subject migrants to more risk. Militarization and law enforcement are not the answer - meaningful access to humanitarian protection is.”
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Las Americas Reacts to Biden's Plan to Expedite Removing Migrants From U.S.
“Las Americas supports efforts to expand family reunification pathways for people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia, however, we are deeply concerned about the administration's continuous focus on deterrence policies instead of utilizing resources to make the U.S. asylum system accessible and equitable. Based on the information released today, it seems that the administration seeks to make it easier to remove individuals and families from the U.S. without due process protections by making it ever more difficult to qualify for asylum. This is both cruel and a violation of our legal obligations. Everyone deserves safety, regardless of where they live. We urge the Biden administration to work closely with direct service providers to maximize refugee resettlement and to make it complementary to, rather than a replacement for, asylum at the U.S./Mexico border."
-Jennifer Babaie, Las Americas Director of Advocacy & Legal Services
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For Immediate Release: March 28, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
At Least 39 Migrant Lives Lost in Ciudad Juárez and Dozens More Injured As a Result of Biden Administration’s and Lopez Obrador’s Failed Deterrence Policies
CUIDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO —Last night, 39 migrants died, and 29 were injured in a fire at a immigrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez. The facility was hosting at least 68 men from Central and South America waiting to seek protection in the United States after multiple raids were conducted around the city.
Marisa Limón Garza, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center’s Executive Director in El Paso, Texas, said:
“We are angry, but we are also tired. Angry and tired at having to make yet another statement in order to convince those in power on both sides of the border that it is unacceptable and inhumane to rest the weight of politics on the shoulders of those looking for safety at our borders. This is another horrific tragedy resulting from punitive and racist enforcement and border deterrence policies that have only resulted in hundreds of migrant deaths.
“The Biden administration cannot continue to ignore the hundreds of thousands of migrants who are still stranded in border cities like Ciudad Juárez and to negotiate bilateral agreements as a means of sidestepping U.S. asylum obligations. We demand all relevant branches of government do their part to restore access to asylum and introduce solutions that will provide legal pathways for people to seek safety. How many more lives must we lose for this to be a priority? Not one more.”
Gabriela Muñoz Cano, Las Americas’ Mexico Project Manager/Co-Director in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico said:
“This is not the first time Ciudad Juárez and border communities have witnessed a tragedy of this kind. These deaths were the direct consequences of inhumane policies that result in vulnerable people forced to flee for their lives without a safe and orderly way to reach safety. For more than 5 years, we have sounded the alarm about the need for legal pathways for people seeking protection in this region. We’re talking about mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and thousands of children who are simply looking for a chance at a better life. Where is the fair and humane immigration system we were promised?
“Instead of locking up and punishing families who are fleeing dangers and violence, we can do the right thing by abiding by our legal obligations under U.S. and international law and welcoming people seeking safety. To do that, we need the Biden administration to restore full access to asylum now. Further, we urge the Mexican government to take action against human rights violations within its law enforcement agencies and to stop all agreements allowing for asylum seekers to be returned to Mexico without proper screening. Enough is enough.”
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Comment on the Proposed Rule by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) on Circumvention of Lawful Pathways
EL PASO, TX —In February 2023, the Biden administration proposed a regulation that would require U.S. officials to presume that any individual who transited through other countries or crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization is ineligible for asylum. On Monday, March 28, 2023, Las Americas Legal Director Jennifer Babaie and Staff Attorney Heidi Cerneka submitted to the Federal Register a comment explaining how the proposed regulation violates U.S. asylum and places in serious harm the very people most at need of protection in our hemisphere.
For Immediate Release: March 21, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
On Title 42’s Third Anniversary, Border Organization Calls on President Biden to End All Restrictions to Asylum
“This is not the fair and humane immigration system promised by President Biden.”
El Paso, Texas —On the three year anniversary of the implementation of Title 42, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center’s Executive Director, Marisa Limón Garza, issued the following statement:
“For three years, the unlawful use of Title 42 by the Trump and Biden administrations has endangered more than 2.5 million lives. It has subjected migrants and border communities to situations that are more dangerous, less humane, and more chaotic than ever before. This anniversary should serve as a reminder for President Biden and his administration that bans, cruelty, and family detention are not solutions to the challenges at our border.
“Through our work, we have witnessed the violence, discrimination, and severe harm caused by inhumane policies like Title 42. Migrants, and other people on the move, are verbally and physically abused by criminal organizations and law enforcement officials on both sides of the border, leaving the most vulnerable to bear the brunt of the Administration's blatant disregard for U.S. asylum law.
“This is not the fair and humane immigration system promised by President Biden. It’s time for the Biden administration to live up to its commitments by ending all asylum restrictions at our borders.”
Since March 2020, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center has advocated against Title 42. We have provided access to limited pathways to safety and the opportunity to seek asylum for more than 4,696 individuals since the policy’s inception. Additionally, we have conducted 7,837 intakes and more than 140 ‘know your rights’ presentations in Mexico.
As part of this effort, we continue to prioritize Black, LGBTQ+, and Indigenous language-speaking individuals as well as those with significant medical vulnerabilities, understanding the particular hardships and difficulties these individuals confront during their migratory journey.
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For Immediate Release: February 21, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
BREAKING: Biden Administration Resurrects Trump Administration Transit Ban
El Paso, Texas —A "transit ban," which will further limit refugees' access to asylum, has been announced by the Biden administration today. Migrants who pass through a third country en route to the U.S. without seeking asylum there will be denied asylum under this new measure.
Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center shared the following statement:
“Today’s announcement represents a blatant embrace of hateful and illegal anti-asylum policies, which will lead to unnecessary human suffering. Time after time, President Biden has broken his campaign promises to end restrictions on asylum seekers traveling through other countries. These are mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and thousands of children who are simply looking for a fair chance for their case to be heard. We urge the Biden administration to abandon policy initiatives that further the inhumane and ineffective agenda of the Trump administration.”
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For Immediate Release: February 8, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Las Americas IAC Stands in Solidarity with the Victims of the El Paso Walmart Attack
El Paso, Texas —- It has been almost three and a half years since a white supremacist gunman massacred 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Yesterday, the shooter pleaded guilty to Federal hate crime charges resulting from this brutal killing, the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern US history.
Gloria Amesquita, a spokesperson and legal assistant with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, shared the following statement:
“Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center has been working with the immigrant community impacted by this deadly incident for more than three years. As an El Pasoan myself, I know that although this guilty plea represents a step forward for the victims of this crime, there is much more that needs to be done to bring justice to this community and to the immigrants whose lives were forever altered. Those in power must reject the racist and violent rhetoric and worldview that led the shooter to kill 23 people in cold blood. They must stop the use of words like ‘invasion’ to describe arriving immigrants or ‘warzone’ to describe border communities like El Paso.
“We call on the federal government to consider taking steps to help ensure that those harmed by this terrorist attack are allowed to seek safety in our country and have access to mental health resources.”
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For Immediate Release: January 27, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
BREAKING: Biden Administration to Revive Trump-era Rapid Asylum Screenings Under CBP Custody
EL PASO, TEXAS – The Biden administration is reportedly set to implement fast-track asylum screenings at the U.S.-Mexico border, known as “credible fear interviews” or CFIs.
Under the Trump administration, CFIs denied over 5,000 asylum seekers a fair chance by rushing them through fast-track legal proceedings while held in detention centers.
Jennifer Babaie, Director of Advocacy and Legal Services of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, shared the following statement:
“Two years ago, President Biden issued an executive order promising to end anti-asylum practices like credible fear interviews (CFIs) and expedited removal. In reality, he appears to be repeating his predecessor's mistake of forcing asylum seekers to go through a fundamentally flawed process without access to legal counsel and returning them to the dangers they fled. CFIs, which are conducted in the hasty expedited removal process, are inherently unfair and cruel.
Trying to determine asylum cases for survivors of trauma at the border will not provide people with an equitable opportunity to present their requests for protections. In place of taking away resources, the Biden administration should prioritize providing legal representation at our border to vulnerable people and adding more personnel to address application backlogs.”
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For Immediate Release: January 5, 2023
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
BREAKING: Las Americas IAC Condemns Biden Administration New Border Strategy
“The only lasting solutions at our border are rooted in fair and humane applications of asylum law”
EL PASO, TEXAS – As part of a new border strategy, President Biden announced today that Title 42 expulsions will be expanded to include migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti. This change comes alongside a process that will allow migrants from these countries with U.S. financial sponsors to enter through a program modeled after previous policies that provided safe haven for a limited number of Venezuelans and Ukrainians.
Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center shared the following statement:
“With this new border strategy, the Biden administration puts politics before human lives. As a deterrence approach, Title 42 is a failure. It has only encouraged migrants to cross repeatedly and in increasingly remote and dangerous areas. Through this policy, migrants’ lives and wellbeing are at risk through kidnapping, smuggling, labor trafficking, and other human rights violations.
“Beyond this, it is disingenuous to say that expanding the use of Title 42 and subverting the normal application of immigration and asylum law has been the success President Biden claims. In El Paso, we have seen how the application of Title 42 to Venezuelans has placed migrants in situations where they seek to evade U.S. immigration authorities. This has the knock-on effect of complicating efforts to meet the basic humanitarian needs–food, shelter, and sanitation–of this population. Expanding Title 42 has made responding to events at the border in a safe, orderly, and humane manner more difficult.
“Ultimately we know that the only lasting solutions at our border are rooted in fair and humane applications of asylum law with institutions that have the resources, personnel, and flexibility to meet the changing realities of people fleeing harm today.”
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For Immediate Release: November 16, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Border Organization Responds to Court Decision Ending Title 42
“As a legal service provider on the front lines at the southern border, we know the human toll of this policy all too well”
EL PASO, TEXAS — In Huisha-Huisha v. Mayorkas, a class action lawsuit on behalf of refugee families, Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled last night that Title 42 violates U.S. law and has no basis in public health.
For more than two years, Title 42 placed the politics of fear over people’s safety and human rights. Since its implementation, the policy has allowed U.S. authorities to expel more than 2 million migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without due process.
Marisa Limón Gomez, Executive Director at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, shared the following statement:
“This ruling supports what we have argued since the beginning: Title 42's sole purpose is to prevent individuals from seeking asylum in the U.S. As a legal service provider on the front lines at the southern border, we know the human toll of this policy all too well.
“It is heartening to see Judge Sullivan block the policy in recognition of the irrevocable harm done to people on the move including Black and Indigenous migrants. We look forward to rigorous dialogue with the Biden administration to fully restore asylum and call for an investment in truly humane and orderly solutions for people seeking protection.”
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For Immediate Release: November 16, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Immigrants Detained in New Mexico Participate in Hunger Strike to Protest Medical Neglect and Other Abuses
“Medical abuse, racism, and immigration are intrinsically linked in this system”
MILAN, NEW MEXICO — In an open letter, immigrants detained at the Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, New Mexico announced a hunger strike to protest dangerous conditions and mistreatment by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its private prison CoreCivic.
In response to a suicide attempt by one of the immigrants detained at Cibola County Correctional Center on October 18, a group of 20 men began the hunger strike. Twenty-five men are currently striking. The men cite ICE and CoreCivic as being responsible for the suicide attempt as a result of the dreadful conditions and treatment.
“The majority of the detainees have languished for many months detained here without justification by ICE. These people have committed no crimes and present no danger to American society. They are seeking asylum and although they have legal sponsors, family ties and somewhere to live, they are denied their rights to release on parole, bond,” states the letter.
The men call for the end of ICE detention at Cibola, the release of migrants in the facility, and an end to immigration discrimination.
“We need help urgently, we will not wait for one of us to die here. We request our release. Please help us. Thank you and may God bless you,” the letter continues.
Across the country, detention centers are rife with inhumane conditions and flagrant abuse despite President Biden's campaign promises to end prolonged immigration detention and the use of private detention centers. ICE operates more than 200 detention centers today, nearly 80% of which are privately operated.
Kesley Vial, a young Brazilian in ICE custody at the Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF), died from suicide on August 24. Advocates allege the conditions and treatment of ICE and TCDF's operator CoreCivic led to his death.
It has been repeatedly reported by survivors of detention that human right abuses run rampant at Cibola. Reuters found hundreds of unanswered medical requests at ICE's only transgender detention unit, located at the Cibola County Correctional Center, in 2020. Earlier this year, several high risk detained persons have spoken up about the medical neglect and discrimination they suffered at Cibola. It is clear that medical abuse, racism, and immigration are intrinsically linked in this system and if unresolved, they will have extreme adverse consequences.
You can find a full list of the men’s demands in English here.
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For Immediate Release: October 24, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
BREAKING: Survivors of Hudspeth Shooting Released from ICE Custody
El Paso, Texas – As of today, eight Mexican migrants who survived the Sheppard brothers’ violent, hateful attack have been released from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in El Paso after close to four weeks in detention. The Sept. 27 attack resulted in one man being murdered by gunfire and another woman being seriously injured after she was shot in the stomach.
The release comes after weeks of efforts to secure their release from the El Paso Processing Center, where the migrants were held despite internal guidance by ICE encouraging the release of crime victims.
Zoe Bowman, Supervising Attorney of the Detained Deportation Defense Team at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center shared the following statement:
“Eight witnesses to the murder committed by Mark and Mike Sheppard have been freed from ICE custody. By detaining the victims of this crime in prison-like facilities for almost a month, officials with the Biden administration inflicted further harm on top of the white supremacist violence of the shooters. However, even as we celebrate their release, we remain deeply concerned by the racist violence plaguing our country. The use of violence by white supremacists has become more common, threatening the dignity and lives of Black, brown and Indigenous migrants in our borderlands.
Like the Walmart shooting three years ago, this attack was a hate crime and should be recognized as such by law enforcement. There is a clear need for the Department of Justice to open a hate crime investigation in this case.”
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For Immediate Release: October 13, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Biden Admin. Will Expel Thousands More Vulnerable People Under Title 42
El Paso, Texas — Last night, the Biden administration announced it reached an agreement with Mexico that will allow U.S. authorities to send Venezuelan migrants back across the border under Title 42, while allowing others to apply for legal entry through U.S. consulates abroad.
Those applicants must have a person or organization willing to sponsor them financially, and present themselves at U.S. consulates abroad, not at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Marisa Limón-Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center shared the following statement:
"While 24,000 Venezuelans will be spared Title 42's inhumanity, thousands more will face violence and danger. For too long, Black and indigenous migrants have been disproportionately impacted by Title 42’s unlawfulness. This policy makes that bias worse. Everyday, Las Americas’ teams in Mexico witness the fear and injury migrants undergo because of this policy. It’s time for our government to strengthen, not weaken, the principle that access to asylum is a right for all, not a privilege for a select few. We urge the Biden administration to provide infrastructure funding to support a safe, orderly, and humane asylum process - not one that deters and externalizes the right to asylum.”
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For Immediate Release: August 24, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Attempts to seek safety have led to the drowning of two children along the U.S. Mexico Border
El Paso, Texas — The body of a 5-year-old girl was recovered from the Rio Grande on Monday during a crossing attempt. Another drowning incident resulted in the death of a 3-year-old boy, whose body was recovered from the Rio Grande near International Bridge II by U.S. Border Patrol Agents. A two-month-old boy was also recovered from the river.
Crystal Sandoval, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center (LAIAC) and Co-director of Las Americas Mexico (LAMX) released the following statement:
"Our hearts go out to all the families affected by this preventable and horrific tragedy. These deaths were the consequence of inhumane policies that leave vulnerable people, and little ones like Margaret Sofia and her mom, fleeing for their lives without a safe and orderly way to come to the U.S. Everyday people are suffering because our leaders fail to act. Where is the fair and humane immigration system we were promised?
“As we grieve the loss of these innocent lives, we call on the Biden administration to finally put an end to harmful policies like Remain in Mexico and Title 42, and restore full access to asylum at the border. U.S. law recognizes asylum as a human right and a legal act. We cannot continue to dehumanize asylum-seekers and migrants, including children, and deny them respect and dignity.”
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For Immediate Release: June 30, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Las Americas Responds to SCOTUS Decision on the Discontinuation of Cruel Trump Era Remain in Mexico Policy
El Paso, Texas – Today, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Biden administration to terminate the "Remain in Mexico" policy, a shameful Trump policy that turns away vulnerable people and families seeking safety, forcing them to survive in dangerous conditions in Mexico.
Nicolas Palazzo, HIAS Border Fellow and Senior Staff Attorney at Las Americas, released the following statement:
“Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of due process and the human rights of migrants in Biden v. Texas, restoring our immigration system to the rule of law while increasing humane and safe access to asylum for those seeking protection at our borders.
The Biden administration has the authority to terminate the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or “Remain in Mexico”, a policy in which asylum seekers were forced to fend for themselves in Mexico. Stranded without access to critical resources and social services, asylum seekers under MPP are expelled into a world of violence and lawlesness where the kidnapping, extortion, robbery, gender based violence and murder of migrants are a daily occurence.
The consequences of Biden v. Texas cannot be understated. This decision will allow thousands of asylum seekers to wait in safety within the United States during their removal proceedings, a longstanding precedent until the Trump Administration implemented this cruel and inhumane program in 2018.
The tragedy of MPP has come to an end but our fight is not over. Despite this important victory, the Biden Administration continues to weaponize immigration policy against asylum seekers through the unlawful expulsion of millions under Title 42. The rapid expulsion of innocent lives to danger contravenes the mission of our work. Las Americas will continue and is fully committed to valuing the human dignity of every migrant seeking protection in our efforts to offer refuge and safety to society’s most vulnerable.”
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For Immediate Release: June 29, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Borderland Organizations Mourn, Denounce Preventable Migrant Deaths
Recent Tragedies Show Need to Move Away from Migrant Deterrence, Death, at U.S.-Mexico Border
The Borderland Immigration Council mourns the loss of the 51 migrant lives in San Antonio, those who have drowned in the rivers and canals around El Paso, and all those who have faced injury or death as they have sought to make a better life in the U.S. We stand in solidarity and grief with those affected and offer our condolences to their families and loved ones.
These deaths are the result of cruel policies of deterrence, like Remain in Mexico (also known as the Migrant Protection Protocol) and Title 42, that leave people fleeing for their lives without a safe, orderly way to come to the U.S. These deaths are the result of border policies that have become needlessly callous and hardened in the face of human suffering. None of these deaths had to happen; they are lamentable, shameful, and unacceptable. Continuing current border strategies guarantees future deaths to come.
Instead, we can build a border of true safety, opportunity, order, and hope. We must reopen pathways to claim asylum; doing so will disempower bad actors and demonstrate our commitment to a humane immigration process. We must invest in the infrastructure to process migrants at ports-of-entry; doing so will foster safe and orderly entry into the U.S. By taking these steps, rather than doubling down on the failures of Title 42 and MPP, we can uplift humanity over death, order over chaos, our laws over our fears.
As residents of border communities we are committed to doing this work, to building a border of welcome, dignity, and hope. We ask that the Biden Administration, Congress, Governor Abbott, and all Americans join us in this effort.
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About BIC: Founded in 2016, the Borderlands Immigration Council is a binational coalition of immigration attorneys and community advocates in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez-Las Cruces region seeking justice, fairness, and transparency in the immigration system.
For Immediate Release: May 20, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
BREAKING: Louisiana Federal Judge Rules Against Asylum Seekers, Title 42 Continues
“Now is not the time for the government to turn its back on us.”
El Paso, Texas - Today, a Louisiana federal judge ordered the Biden administration to keep intact Title 42.
Linda Corchado, Interim Executive Director at Las Americas, released the following statement:
"Today, a judge in Louisiana ruled that Title 42 should remain in place for the foreseeable future, thereby continuing a policy without any public health rationale that has sent millions of asylum seekers back to Mexico. The court’s message is clear: asylum-seekers are not welcome.
Now is not the time for the government to turn its back on us. In the same way we welcome Ukrainian refugees fleeing war, we are capable and prepared to welcome Haitian, Honduran and others fleeing persecution. Our laws must and should protect people from any part of the world in need of safety. On the border, we can solve this through an orderly, legal, and fair process.
Rather than follow the rule of law, Title 42 places the politics of division and distraction over people’s safety and human rights. Title 42 is built on exclusion, anathema to the inclusivity that border communities represent. It has flipped the concept of asylum as refuge on its head, expelling over 1.8 million vulnerable people— including pregnant women and sick children — back to danger where thousands of asylum seekers have been the victims of rape, robbery, kidnapping and extortion.
Despite the unfounded ruling of the court, we know, from the experiences of our clients and communities, that Title 42 is inhumane, dangerous, unnecessary, and long overdue to be rescinded. In the meantime, we will continue our efforts to advocate for the most vulnerable to be exempted from this process, and for the right to asylum to be restored to all persons.”
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For Immediate Release: April 6, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Governor Abbott’s Hateful Rhetoric Undermines Our Asylum Laws
Linda Corchado, Interim Executive Director at Las Americas (LAIAC), released the following statement:
“Governor Greg Abbott is putting his interests above the lives of Texans yet again. This is another racist and cynical tactic by Governor Abbott that will only stoke fear and further undermine our asylum laws. His message carries no hope, only divisiveness that plays to our worst instincts as a country.
“Words of war like "invasion" and "invaders” legitimate the violence and hate that inspired the El Paso Walmart shooting in 2019. This language is radical, craven, and unhinged, and does not describe immigrants or the reality of the border. By using these words, Governor Abbott neglects his duty to Texans, but instead puts communities like El Paso at risk. At Las Americas, we experienced firsthand the harm this language causes, and we will never forget the harrowing trauma and suffering our clients and our community endured.”
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About Las Americas
Las Americas is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to providing high-quality legal services to low income immigrants. Since its founding in 1987, Las Americas has served close to 50,000 persons, with a strong focus on women, children, families, the LGBTQIA community and asylum seekers.
For Immediate Release: March 24, 2022
Media Contact: Ivonne Rodriguez, ivonnerodriguez@las-americas.org
Las Americas Reacts to Biden Administration's Sweeping Changes to Asylum Process
El Paso, Texas - Today, the Biden administration announced new regulations in hopes to overhaul the asylum process. The regulation changes, which are set to take effect in a little over two months, seek to reduce the timeline for asylum cases to be decided from years to 90 days.
Linda Corchado, Interim Executive Director at Las Americas (LAIAC), released the following statement:
“Persons fleeing persecution come to our borders and are placed in front of biased immigration judges and DHS trial attorneys. These circumstances do not account for the heavily traumatized nature of the asylum seeker. At Las Americas, we practice asylum law in a region that is called an "asylum free zone," where immigration judges have denial rates above 90%. The devastation caused by the EOIR system, mostly run by former DHS lawyers and military personnel, does little justice to the spirit of our laws and the vulnerable nature of asylum seekers.
With these proposed changes, our asylum laws can now be enforced in a trauma-informed setting by USCIS asylum officers; that's the type of non-adversarial setting we have been hoping to achieve for asylum seekers. However, we urge the Biden administration to continue to partner with organizations like Las Americas. We filed this note and comment in October 2021 and are proud of our team’s efforts spearheaded by detained staff attorney, Max Brooks, to reform the credible fear process. We are grateful that the Biden administration is listening but the credible fear process needs further reform and we are concerned about access to counsel under these new guidelines. Finally, as detained asylum seekers await their fates, their freedom continues to rest in the hands of ICE, yet El Paso was one of five facilities in the country that refused to follow humanitarian parole policies and release eligible asylum seekers. This process, also, needs critical attention by the administration.
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