Austin coalition calls for end of ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy

Austin-based immigrant advocates plan to travel to San Antonio on Tuesday to protest a Trump administration policy that they say violates the rights of asylum seekers.

The 10 a.m. rally outside of the San Antonio federal immigration courthouse on Dolorosa Street will coincide with congressional hearings on the issue in Washington, as well as a nationwide week of action opposing the Migrant Protection Protocols program, also known as Remain in Mexico.

Since January, asylum seekers who arrive at the southern U.S. border are required to return to Mexico and wait for their court proceedings there. The cases are heard by a judge remotely by video. Opponents of the unprecedented policy are calling for Congress to defund and end the program.

“Seeking asylum is a right under both the U.S. law and international law,” said Rebecca Lightsey, executive director for American Gateways, which is among the groups co-hosting the rally. “The MPP program makes a sham of those laws. It is a human catastrophe that is putting lives in danger every day that it exists. It is also making a mockery of our justice system by denying asylum seekers any meaningful opportunity to present their claim or any right to legal counsel.”

When the program was implemented, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen said it represented “a methodical commonsense approach” that would “help address the crisis at our Southern border.” The Department of Homeland Security said the program would help “decrease the number of those taking advantage of the immigration system.”

But since the Migrant Protection Protocol began, Austin-based immigration advocates have grown frustrated with how it has operated and they’ve formed a coalition of community groups and individuals called Alto MPP, or Stop MPP, which is also co-hosting the rally.

Under the protocol, immigration judges in San Antonio conduct hearings remotely as asylum seekers cannot travel to their court appearance. Asylum seekers attend immigration court via video conference from makeshift tent courts along the border, which immigrant advocates say not only has led to numerous complications, but also puts their safety at risk.

“Remain in Mexico has deprived thousands of asylum seekers of due process because our attorneys struggle to meet with clients across the border and prepare their cases,” said Ryan Cox, an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project. “As the government itself warns, it has been too dangerous for our lawyers to travel to Matamoros or Nuevo Laredo. If it’s too dangerous for us to go meet our clients, it’s too dangerous for our clients.”

While observing a virtual hearing, Ashley Alcantara, a University of Texas law student and member of Alto MPP, said she witnessed how those hearings can grow cumbersome. With asylum seeker statements getting lost in translation due to frequent video conference connections malfunctioning, basic communication with judges and legal representation further complicated cases, she said.

Alcantara also said asylum seekers who wait sometimes months for their court hearings are often homeless and more exposed to violence. Some, she said, miss their hearing because they have been kidnapped or give up waiting for the hearing because they fear staying in a dangerous place for too long.

“It’s inhumane,” she said.