(WOLA Photo/Milli Legrain)

Dear John,

Ahead of an election year, things are really heating up in Congress with countless discussions on migration in recent weeks and even an attempt to impeach U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.

As WOLA’s Director for Defense Oversight and an expert on migration, congressional Democrats invited me to testify yesterday alongside former Trump officials Chad Wolf and Gene Hamilton in a hearing convened by the Republican-led Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The scene looked very much like a rehearsal for 2024 with quick sound bites and often a blatant mischaracterization of issues. Undocumented immigrants were portrayed as smuggling fentanyl in their backpacks when drug policy and border security experts know that fentanyl primarily crosses the border through official ports of entry carried by U.S. citizens.

The real push behind the hearing is Republicans'  proposed legislation to bring back Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy that forced thousands of asylum seekers to wait for their U.S. hearing for months on the Mexican border, often in tents, where they were subjected to violence, including kidnappings by cartels.

In the meantime, the Senate is preparing to vote as early as next week on an aid package for Ukraine and Israel in exchange for curtailing access to asylum.

The state of affairs right now is looking pretty dire as politicians use asylum protections as a bargaining chip. 

Please read on about this and other pressing issues in Latin America, as former President Fujimori of Peru could be arbitrarily released from prison despite being convicted of crimes against humanity,  and Javier Milei’s recent electoral victory is likely to upset human rights in Argentina.

Best,

Adam Isacson

Director for Defense Oversight 

Expert testimony is a powerful tool that brings real-world experiences and nuanced perspectives to the forefront of policy discussions. By providing Congress with firsthand accounts from WOLA's experts, we can bridge the gap between policy and humanity.

But, we need your help to make it happen. Your gift to WOLA can ensure that our experts are heard by policy-makers and administration officials!

🇺🇸 Watch Adam Isacson, Director for Defense Oversight, testify at The U.S. Border Crisis and the American Solution to an International Problem, a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, yesterday.

Laura Dib,

WOLA Director for Venezuela

– CNN en Español, EE.UU. busca cortar la inmigración irregular a través de Nicaragua

"What Trump did was he broke the rules of how you talk about things, [...] I think he made it OK to go after your opponents in a very no-holds-barred, no respect, exterminate them at any point way,” which, she said, wasn’t the kind of rhetoric “you saw to this level in Latin America before.”

Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli,

WOLA Director for the Andes 

– The Washington Post, Trump has long praised autocrats and populists. He's now embracing Argentina's new president

“Obviously the democratic deterioration that Guatemala is experiencing affects the population but also the interests of the international community.”  

Ana Maria Mendez Dardon,

WOLA Director for Central America

– Al Jazeera, What’s behind efforts to strip Guatemala’s president-elect of his immunity?

🇬🇹 On November 21,WOLA and Human Rights Watch published a statement pushing for the international community to condemn attempts by the Attorney General, Congress, and Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala to overturn the results of the 2023 presidential elections and persecute opposition leaders and human rights defenders. 

📸 🇦🇷 Last week, WOLA's Director for the Andes, Gimena Sánchez, joined election observers from Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay to ensure free and fair elections in Argentina. 

♀️ As we advocate against gender-based violence, check out "Canción sin miedo" by Vivir Quintana. 

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