Legal Aid to Asylum Seekers Returned to Mexico
Donation protected
I am an attorney and have traveled, on several occasions, to the US/Mexico border to provide pro bono legal aid to the families and children seeking asylum. In the last two months, I have spent time working with Al Otro Lado in Tijuana and learned much about how to support and serve asylum seekers returned to Mexico as part of the Migrant Protection Protocol.
The MPP, which is currently being challenged in court, forces asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while they await U.S. immigration court hearings. Under the program, asylum-seekers entering the U.S. are booked into custody and then returned to Mexico with a court date weeks or months in the future. This bars access to legal assistance and is puts asylum seekers' lives at grave risk. Once they are out of the country, the network of US pro bono attorneys is out of reach. The cruelty is compounded endlessly.
Already weary and vulnerable, asylum-seekers wait in these Mexican border cities which have some of the highest homicide rates in the world. Although seekers in the MPP have died, been raped, and committed suicide, the Trump administration has deemed it a success and have expanded it to Matamoros Mexico. Unlike in Tijuana there is no existing legal aid group like Al Otro Lado.
Therefore, I am going to Matamoros Mexico/Brownsville Texas to provide legal services to asylum seekers returned to Mexico. “Remain In Mexico” program. I am going with a small group of attorneys to begin the process of offering services to seekers waiting in the tent cities in Matamoros. I will give Know Your Rights Presentations, intake, and assist seekers in applying for Asylum. Additionally I will screen for high risk trauma, health issues and food/shelter insecurity.
In addition to conducting workshops and clinics with families, I will help document human rights violations committed against asylum seekers at the port-of-entry and inside immigration detention, for use by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Human Rights First.
The money raised will fund my two plane tickets from Denver to Brownsville, a rental car to drive to Matamoros, pay for food and hotel, and cover the costs related to obtaining clearance. Any money raised in excess of my needs will be used to fund another pro bono attorney at the border.
The MPP, which is currently being challenged in court, forces asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while they await U.S. immigration court hearings. Under the program, asylum-seekers entering the U.S. are booked into custody and then returned to Mexico with a court date weeks or months in the future. This bars access to legal assistance and is puts asylum seekers' lives at grave risk. Once they are out of the country, the network of US pro bono attorneys is out of reach. The cruelty is compounded endlessly.
Already weary and vulnerable, asylum-seekers wait in these Mexican border cities which have some of the highest homicide rates in the world. Although seekers in the MPP have died, been raped, and committed suicide, the Trump administration has deemed it a success and have expanded it to Matamoros Mexico. Unlike in Tijuana there is no existing legal aid group like Al Otro Lado.
Therefore, I am going to Matamoros Mexico/Brownsville Texas to provide legal services to asylum seekers returned to Mexico. “Remain In Mexico” program. I am going with a small group of attorneys to begin the process of offering services to seekers waiting in the tent cities in Matamoros. I will give Know Your Rights Presentations, intake, and assist seekers in applying for Asylum. Additionally I will screen for high risk trauma, health issues and food/shelter insecurity.
In addition to conducting workshops and clinics with families, I will help document human rights violations committed against asylum seekers at the port-of-entry and inside immigration detention, for use by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Human Rights First.
The money raised will fund my two plane tickets from Denver to Brownsville, a rental car to drive to Matamoros, pay for food and hotel, and cover the costs related to obtaining clearance. Any money raised in excess of my needs will be used to fund another pro bono attorney at the border.
Organiser
Claire Noone
Organiser
Glenwood Springs, CO
