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Solidarity Trip to Southern Mexico
Pre-Departure Reflections

The treatment of migrants and asylum seekers is inhumane. Imagine witnessing cartels murdering your husband and then forcing you out of your house, to then have U.S. CBP say you must wait over 7 months for a chance to have an appointment to present your case at a port of entry at the southern border. The lucky ones who are accepted in the country have to wait months or even years to get their work permit because of an accrued backlog.

Our policies are designed to keep the immigrant population living on the edge, obliged to work undocumented to sustain themselves and accepting dangerous work conditions for a substandard wage. Immigration in the United States is a story of exploitation where both public and private sectors seem like they are in cahoots.

The social fabric and economy of our country are founded on immigration. Without the millions of immigrants working in health, hospitality, agriculture and food industries, our economy would collapse. Yet, our political leaders and the media systematically target and vilifies immigrants, creating a false narrative and keeping migrants vulnerable.

Most people don't decide to leave their country by choice; they are often escaping lawless lands overrun by organized crime. These cartels are heavily armed with weapons coming from the U.S., in many cases purchased legally and trafficked illegally. Our politicians have only themselves to blame for the situation at our southern border. This vicious cycle guarantees unlimited supply of desperate people risking their lives to reach the United States, which offers a perception of relative safety where law and order seems to work.

Asylum seekers who survive the trek through the Darien jungle and make it to Mexico must then apply for an appointment with CBP officials through a smartphone app. This app works as a lottery system, with only 1,450 appointments per day, and they must apply every day for up to 9 months before they can present their case. The process feeds this system, boosting the sales of guns on the one hand and the constant arrival of cheap labor on the other. If there were any serious commitments to change the situation, the U.S. could pass laws to stop the illegal trafficking of guns to Latin America and the Caribbean that destabilize vulnerable nations. Once free of senseless violence, safe conditions would encourage and enable foreign investments in these countries, creating jobs and allowing people to live dignified lives in their native communities.

Next week, the Quixote Center is leading a delegation of migrant justice professionals and activists on a solidarity travel to the southern state of Tabasco at the border between Mexico and Guatemala. Meeting with human rights defenders and asylum seekers, many of whom have been deported from the U.S. border, will allow us to witness firsthand how the U.S. border externalization policies are affecting the lives of thousands of families stranded in Mexico.

Look forward to our reporting from the field and policy recommendations to transform our unjust immigration system into one that guarantees the human rights and protects the dignity of all migrants.

 

Post Election Statement

We are still reeling from the election results and processing the implications. Quixote Center is non-partisan. We take the side of the vulnerable, marginalized and oppressed. We are deeply concerned that the outcome of the election will make life worse for the people we serve. We remain steadfast in our conviction to carry out our mission: to pressure our own government for foreign and immigration policies that respect human rights and dignity, and to support partners across Latin America and the Caribbean in their humanitarian, ecological, and economic development work. We long for the day that all peoples can thrive equally in a world free of violence and poverty. We have been through hard times before, and together we know we can make a difference. Thank you for all that each of you does to support this mission.

 

Join the Town Hall to Organize Against Anti-Haitianism on November 12th

Quixote Center is a co-sponsoring organization for the Town Hall: Organizing Against Anti-Haitianism After the US Election ([link removed]).

As anti-Haitianism surges in the lead-up to the U.S. presidential election, confronting the rise in xenophobia and hate requires the community to be prepared and organized.

Date & Time: Tuesday, November 12, 7-8:30 p.m. EST (ZOOM)

Co-sponsoring organizations: Haitian Studies Association ([link removed]), North American Congress on Latin America ([link removed]), Faith in Action ([link removed]), NYU School of Law's Global Justice Clinic ([link removed]), Haitian Bridge Alliance ([link removed]), Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti ([link removed]), Quixote Center ([link removed]) and Human Rights First ([link removed]).

Register
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Upcoming Webinar

On November 14, 2024, Quixote Center's Executive Director, Kim Lamberty will moderate a webinar on human rights abuses in the Darién Gap. Representatives from Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Human Rights Watch, Witness at the Border, Red Franciscana Para Migrantes, and Quixote Center will discuss their report, "DANGER IN THE DARIÉN GAP: Human Rights Abuses and the Need for Humane Pathways to Safety ([link removed])." The panel discussion will highlight key findings on human rights violations from the report, share policy recommendations that support the need for humane pathways to safety, and a current overview of what Panamanian advocates are seeing on the ground following the new Panamanian government.

([link removed])

Register
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Artist Corner
Home by Warsan Shire

no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well

your neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory
is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home when home won't let you stay.

Continue reading the Poem ([link removed])

"Unless home is the mouth of a shark"
Quilt by Marianne Baldwin

 

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