Friend,
Three years ago, under Trump's racist Migrant Protection
Protocols (MPP) policy, better known as the Remain in Mexico policy,
the U.S. government began denying migrants access to our asylum system
by forcing them to await processing in perilous Mexican border towns.
Two weeks after the policy was first enacted, the SPLC and our allies
challenged the policy in federal court. The suit
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describes how the policy subjected asylum seekers to dangerous
conditions that made it nearly impossible for them to prepare their
cases. The SPLC and our partners later filed an additional lawsuit
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challenging MPP's implementation, and the policy was ultimately
terminated by DHS Secretary Mayorkas.
Last August, the Biden administration reinstated
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MPP after a court ruling in a lawsuit brought by the states of Texas
and Missouri.
As of today, thousands of migrants and counting have been forced to
wait in life-threatening conditions in Mexico with little or no access
to legal counsel. Life for asylum-seekers in these border towns is
dangerous, unpredictable and crowded. Many people, including women and
young children, live in makeshift refugee "camps" along
the border with no protection from crime or the elements, depending on
charity for food and shelter.
When Trump first implemented MPP, the SPLC warned that it would
subject asylum seekers to unprecedented danger, further entrench white
supremacy in our nation's immigration system and cause chaos. It
has done just that.
By last December, at least 1,544
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violent crimes had been committed against such migrants, according to
Human Rights First. Despite purported changes to make the policy more
humane, Customs and Border Patrol has not been adequately conducting
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screenings to identify those with mental and physical vulnerabilities
that could grant them exemption from the policy. Immigration attorneys
in the U.S. are now underwater, swimming through an enormous backlog
of roughly 1.3 million cases pending in the immigration courts,
leaving unrepresented migrants little chance to present their claims
in a timely manner.
Read more here.
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As MPP continues to shatter lives and reinforce white supremacy within
our immigration system, the U.S. government must contend with its
failure to uphold basic human rights. In addition to assisting people
already harmed by MPP, it is the U.S. government's
responsibility to restore fair, functional access to asylum at the
border.
With your support, we are able to keep fighting to make the U.S. a
beacon of hope for those seeking asylum from violence and hate. Thank
you.
In solidarity,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
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