Forced Migration, Illegal Barriers to Asylum and the Humanitarian Crisis in Tijuana
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STRANDED Forced Migration, Illegal Barriers to Asylum and the Humanitarian Crisis in Tijuana A Report by the National Lawyers Guild July 2019 Executive Summary In March 2019, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) International Committee sent a fact-finding delegation to Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California, to investigate and illuminate the injustices and human rights violations confronting asylum-seekers and their advocates in Tijuana. Seven NLG members joined two long-term, on-the-ground NLG volunteers. The team met with lawyers and activists working with migrants from Central America and elsewhere, as well as governmental and nongovernmental human rights organizations, Mexican police, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), local and international humanitarian aid organizations, and migrants themselves (see Appendix III for a full list of delegation meetings). This report articulates the findings of that delegation. U.S. foreign policy and economic and military aid to repressive regimes in Central America, combined with the devastating effects of climate change, extremely high murder rates, kidnappings and disappearances, gang violence, loss of ancestral lands, environmental degradation, and poverty have rendered living conditions unbearable for millions. This has triggered the recent mass exodus of people from (primarily) the "Northern Triangle" countries (Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala) trying to reach the U.S. border to seek asylum, referred to in the media as "migrant caravans." The response of the Trump administration to this forced displacement has been to vilify these people, portraying them as “criminals,” “rapists,” and “terrorists,” and characterizing the migrant caravans as "an invasion." Following up on this racist rhetoric, the administration has implemented policies and protocols to minimize the possibility of these migrants obtaining asylum in the U.S. by instructing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to drastically limit the number of asylum- seekers allowed each day to present their asylum claims, sending troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, and pressuring the Mexican government to implement draconian tactics to discourage asylum-seekers from reaching the U.S. border. All this has fostered a virulent anti-migrant environment on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, resulting in numerous human rights violations by both the U.S. and Mexican governments. The March 2019 delegation to Tijuana was not the Guild’s first involvement with migrants at the border. When the first Central American caravan arrived in Tijuana in April 2018, NLG lawyers, trained Legal Observers, and legal workers traveled to Tijuana to provide legal support to migrants through partnerships with groups including the bi-national legal services organization Al Otro Lado (AOL). When the second, larger caravan arrived in November 2018, the NLG again partnered with AOL to provide legal support volunteers. NLG members were dismayed by the conditions on the ground in Tijuana, including the poor treatment of migrants seeking asylum by government officials and local residents. Among the observations were the illegal “list” for asylum-seekers waiting to present themselves at the border, a lack of access to shelter, food and humanitarian aid, numerous barriers to presenting oneself for asylum, lack of basic legal information about the asylum process, and illegal surveillance of migrants and migrant advocates. Main Findings of the March 2019 NLG International Delegation: 1. President Trump applies a racist perspective to US immigration policy and has ramped up barriers to migration to create a humanitarian crisis at the border; 2. The barriers to asylum, including the so-called “metering” system and the “Remain in Mexico” policy, misleadingly named, “Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP),” are illegal and exposes asylum-seekers to life-threatening conditions; 3. The governments of the United States and Mexico are neglecting their respective obligations under domestic and international law to respect the human rights of asylum- seekers; 4. Anti-immigrant sentiment in Mexico has resulted in harassment and violence towards migrants in Tijuana by Mexican authorities and residents 5. Vulnerable populations, such as unaccompanied children and LGBTQ+ individuals, are especially at risk, and are not being afforded the rights to which they are entitled under international law; and 6. The U.S. and Mexican governments have criminalized migrants and those who are aiding them or documenting their plight, using illegal surveillance and other tactics. About the National Lawyers Guild and its International Committee: The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), whose membership includes lawyers, legal workers, jailhouse lawyers, and law students, was formed in 1937 as the United States’ first racially- integrated bar association to advocate for the protection of constitutional, human and civil rights. www.nlg.org The NLG International Committee seeks to change U.S. foreign policy that threatens, rather than engages, or is based on a model of domination rather than respect. The Guild provides assistance and solidarity to movements in the United States and abroad that work for social justice in this increasingly interconnected world. www.nlginternational.org Cover image: The existing border wall separating Mexico and the United States, in the western sector of Tijuana, March 5, 2019. This report is published under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please attribute to the National Lawyers Guild. Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Findings of the Delegation .................................................................................................................................. 1 1. Manufactured Humanitarian Crisis at the Border ............................................................................. 1 2. Illegal Barriers to Asylum and Violations of Human Rights ............................................................. 2 3. “Remain in Mexico”: The So-Called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) .................................... 3 4. U.S. and Mexican Governments Neglected Humanitarian Obligations Under Domestic and International Law ............................................................................................................................................ 5 5. Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in Mexico Results in Harassment and Criminalization of Migrants in Tijuana ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 6. Unaccompanied Children and LGBTQ+ Asylum-Seekers Are Not Afforded the Rights to Which They Are Entitled .............................................................................................................................. 7 7. Harassment of Migrant Supporters by the U.S. and Mexican Governments .................................... 10 Delegation Recommendations to Congress .................................................................................................... 12 Appendix I: Roots of the Current Central American Exodus ...................................................................... 13 Appendix II: NLG International Committee Prior Experience in Central America and Mexico ............ 14 Appendix III: Delegation Meetings ................................................................................................................. 14 Findings of the Delegation 1. Manufactured Humanitarian Crisis at the Border Donald Trump ran for U.S. president on an explicitly anti-immigrant platform, publicly spouting racist rhetoric about undocumented people and making derogatory declarations about Mexicans in his 2015 campaign launch speech: "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." Trump went on to claim migrants “infest our country” and are “breeding” in sanctuary cities, and depicted caravans as cover for terrorists and M-13 gang members. Although these claims have been debunked by Trump’s own administration and the mainstream media, they perpetuate racist and xenophobic rhetoric. Trump used this platform to create and endorse a hatred of the “other,” targeting immigrants in the U.S. as well as migrants seeking to enter the U.S. from other countries. His inability to secure funding for the border wall prompted him to shut down the government from December 22, 2018 through January 25, 2019. In February 2019, President Trump declared a “state of emergency” at the U.S. southern border, citing the Central American migrant caravans. He described these groups, consisting largely of women and children, as an “invasion” of the U.S., deploying thousands of troops and demanding that U.S. states bordering Mexico deploy their National Guard units. The deployment of U.S. troops has cost American taxpayers more than $235 million since 2017 (and rising), has proven completely unnecessary, and arguably violates U.S. law. According to the latest estimates from the Pentagon (which foresee troops on the border until at least September), the deployment of active-duty and National Guard troops will cost up to $470 million in 2019. The Central American migrant caravan that arrived in Tijuana in mid-November 2018 was larger than its predecessors. It consisted of families, unaccompanied