More than 100 immigrants wait in Juárez
More than 100 immigrants wait in Juárez: 'The only thing we can do is stay' in Mexico
Aaron Montes, El Paso TimesPublished 7:24 p.m. MT April 5, 2019
JUAREZ, Mexico — More than 100 Central American immigrants who were in El Paso seeking U.S. asylum have been returned to Mexico to await their hearings.
U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragán and a delegation of Democratic Congressional representatives, including Veronica Escobar of El Paso, said about 140 immigrants have been sent back to Juárez from El Paso under the Department of Homeland Security's Migrant Protection Protocols.
The policy, commonly known as Remain in Mexico, started in El Paso in mid-March, but it was just last week when dozens of asylum-seekers and their children began returning to shelters in the Mexican city, Juárez Mayor Armando Cabada said at a news conference Wednesday.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...unds&auto=webpTwo young migrants hug after a long journey from Guatemala to El Paso, Texas. (Photo: Aaron Montes)
He said about 80 asylum-seekers had been returned to Juárez by mid-week.
Cabada expected the pace to quicken rapidly, and his city was bracing for 100 asylum-seekers a day to be sent to Juárez by next week.
“What will we do with them?” he asked. “This is something the federal government needs to respond to.”
Immigrants say all they 'can do is stay'
Jose Canilo made it to El Paso from Honduras, but he was back at a Juárez shelter on Thursday, two days after spending several days at the makeshift campunderneath the Paso Del Norte international bridge in El Paso.
The temporary camp was closed March 31 and after a short stay at a nearby processing site, Canilo and his daughter were sent back to Mexico by Customs and Border Protection officers.
“The only thing we can do is stay,” Canilo said in Juárez.
Canilo had a letter notifying him of his hearing date in the U.S. later this month. It instructed him to be at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry at 6 a.m., when he would be picked up and taken to his immigration court hearing.
The CBP office in El Paso referred questions about the Migrant Protection Protocols to the Department of Homeland Security, which has not responded to requests for comment.
Nationwide, about 40% of asylum requests are approved, but in El Paso, the court approved only 4 of the 88 asylum cases it considered in 2017, or about 4.5%.
No matter the odds, Canilo said, he had no other option.
“We don’t have any money to go back” to Honduras, he said.
Yolanda Vanega, who was also returned to Mexico after being held for several days at the camp under the bridge, also planned to wait for her hearing. She is scheduled to be picked up the same day and time as Canilo.
“How can we go back when we have our children?" asked Vanega, who traveled with her daughter. "In Honduras, there’s no money.”
CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan says border region is at "breaking point" because of influx of migrants from Central America. Mark R Lambie, El Paso Times
Immigrants will have hard time receiving legal help
Representing asylum-seekers who are not physically in the United States will be a challenge for immigration attorneys, but Canilo, Vanega, and the other immigrants returned to Mexico weren't sure they would be able to find a lawyer at all.
The letters given to them by CBP provides a link to a website listing immigration attorneys who offer pro bono legal services maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice.
However, the link goes to a page in English. Internet access and even phones are hard to come by at shelters in Juárez, and many of the immigrants don't have the money to pay for those services elsewhere.
Melissa Lopez, executive director of Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services in El Paso, which offers legal counsel to immigrants, said she worried that the new protocols would make it extremely difficult for migrants to obtain adequate legal representation.
In addition to the challenges immigrants will have finding lawyers, Lopez said, there are logistical and legal concerns about whether lawyers will be able to represent immigrants who have been returned to Mexico. She is unsure whether lawyers licensed to practice in the United States can provide counsel in Mexico.
Hospitality shelters operated by Annunciation House, an El Paso nonprofit, provides support and services to migrants. Aaron Montes, El Paso Times
“It is still pretty shocking this is where we are in 2019,” Lopez said.
Immigration courts in El Paso, in particular, have come under fire recently.
El Paso immigration court judges were accused of violating the due process rights of asylum-seekers and creating a "culture of hostility," according to a joint complaint filed by the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
The complaint — submitted to the Office of Immigration Review, the Office of the Inspector General, and the Office of Professional Responsibility — described an already grim picture for asylum-seekers processed in El Paso.
Judges at the El Paso Service Processing Center immigration court granted only 31 out of 808 asylum applications, or about 3.84%, from fiscal year 2013 to fiscal year 2017.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...unds&auto=webpTwo girls on the Juarez side of the border fence try to coax Sister Fabiola, who was carrying a huge bag of candy, closer to the fence as Father Miguel Briseño, right, offers a sign of peace to children on the other side of the barrier. Hope Border Institute and the Diocese of El Paso Commission on Migration held a border prayer vigil at the border fence in Anapra Tuesday. Clergy from El Paso, Juarez and New Mexico gathered to pray for migrants and improved immigration policy. Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso held photos of two children who died in U.S. custody and prayed it would never happen again. (Photo: Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)
Shelters in Juárez already strained to provide services
As the wave of immigrants from Central America continues to increase and with the United States now sending more asylum-seekers back to Mexico to await their hearings, the already strained shelters in Juárez will struggle even more to provide for the immigrants in their care.
The state of Chihuahua has converted a gymnasium in central Juárez into a shelter where migrants can stay and are provided food, medical supplies and mats to sleep on. Juárez city police provide security.
About 3,000 migrants were estimated to be in Juárez last week, and that number is only expected to increase as the U.S. sends more migrants back. Cabada said the Mexican federal government needs to intervene to prevent a crisis.
https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/ne...gs/3364818002/
