Two adult men were the first asylum-seekers to be returned to Mexico on Wednesday, under the Biden administration’s court-ordered reimplementation of Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the two men were sent from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez.
While ABC News said the nationalities of the two asylum-seekers were unknown, Reuters reported one of the men was from Nicaragua. Enrique Manzanares “said he felt a little sad, but gave thanks to God that he was still alive,” the report said.
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Reuters reports that after the two men were administered a COVID-19 test, they were taken to a local shelter. MPP’s return had hinged on Mexico’s cooperation, which reportedly wanted to see swifter processing times and better access to legal counsel, among a number of requests.
But advocates have said there’s simply no way to make the inhumane humane. Joining them is the asylum officers union, which said the reimplementation of MPP, which is also known as Remain in Mexico, makes officers “complicit in violation of U.S. federal law and binding international treaty obligations of non-refoulement that they have sworn to uphold.” The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said that for decades the USCIS Asylum Officer Corps “has been mandated” to ensure those who seek refuge at our borders have both a fair chance to present their claims, and are treated humanely by the government.
Remain in Mexico “denies asylum-seekers these rights, to which they are entitled under the law,” the union said. “Furthermore, reimplementing MPP will divert asylum officers from their primary protection work, including credible fear screenings and affirmative asylum adjudications,” AFGE continued.
A Mexican official said the two men returned on Wednesday would be the only asylum-seekers returned that day as part of MPP. There they will wait for their U.S. immigration court dates. Under the previous administration, Remain in Mexico began even smaller than that, with one man returned to Mexico on the policy’s first day. Honduran asylum-seeker Carlos Catarlo Gomez “asked for directions to a shelter, the source said,” NBC News reported in January 2019. But the number of asylum-seekers forced to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court dates would eventually balloon to 70,000.
“Immigration advocates are also angered by the fact that Biden isn’t just reinstating MPP; he’s broadening its scale,” Vox reported. “Now, all other citizens of countries in the Western Hemisphere can be sent back under the program, which previously only covered Spanish speakers.”
Reuters reports that IOM has “also called for MPP to be ended as soon as possible, describing it in a statement as ‘inhumane and contrary to international law.’” Women’s Refugee Commission senior policy adviser for migrant rights and justice Ursela Ojeda made clear to Vox that the administration “was not ordered by the court to expand Remain in Mexico to new populations.” Along with the continuance of Stephen Miller’s Title 42 policy, the past few days have been a devastating period for asylum-seekers and human rights.
While ABC News said the nationalities of the two asylum-seekers were unknown, Reuters reported one of the men was from Nicaragua. Enrique Manzanares “said he felt a little sad, but gave thanks to God that he was still alive,” the report said.
Campaign Action
Reuters reports that after the two men were administered a COVID-19 test, they were taken to a local shelter. MPP’s return had hinged on Mexico’s cooperation, which reportedly wanted to see swifter processing times and better access to legal counsel, among a number of requests.
But advocates have said there’s simply no way to make the inhumane humane. Joining them is the asylum officers union, which said the reimplementation of MPP, which is also known as Remain in Mexico, makes officers “complicit in violation of U.S. federal law and binding international treaty obligations of non-refoulement that they have sworn to uphold.” The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said that for decades the USCIS Asylum Officer Corps “has been mandated” to ensure those who seek refuge at our borders have both a fair chance to present their claims, and are treated humanely by the government.
Remain in Mexico “denies asylum-seekers these rights, to which they are entitled under the law,” the union said. “Furthermore, reimplementing MPP will divert asylum officers from their primary protection work, including credible fear screenings and affirmative asylum adjudications,” AFGE continued.
A Mexican official said the two men returned on Wednesday would be the only asylum-seekers returned that day as part of MPP. There they will wait for their U.S. immigration court dates. Under the previous administration, Remain in Mexico began even smaller than that, with one man returned to Mexico on the policy’s first day. Honduran asylum-seeker Carlos Catarlo Gomez “asked for directions to a shelter, the source said,” NBC News reported in January 2019. But the number of asylum-seekers forced to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court dates would eventually balloon to 70,000.
“Immigration advocates are also angered by the fact that Biden isn’t just reinstating MPP; he’s broadening its scale,” Vox reported. “Now, all other citizens of countries in the Western Hemisphere can be sent back under the program, which previously only covered Spanish speakers.”
Reuters reports that IOM has “also called for MPP to be ended as soon as possible, describing it in a statement as ‘inhumane and contrary to international law.’” Women’s Refugee Commission senior policy adviser for migrant rights and justice Ursela Ojeda made clear to Vox that the administration “was not ordered by the court to expand Remain in Mexico to new populations.” Along with the continuance of Stephen Miller’s Title 42 policy, the past few days have been a devastating period for asylum-seekers and human rights.