Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair Joaquin Castro of Texas leads a letter from six Democratic House committee chairs calling on the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice watchdogs to open an investigation into the kangaroo “tent courts” where asylum-seekers who have been forced into Mexico are having their cases heard, writing that the secretive nature of these proceedings “may allow DHS to hide abuse and due process violations that may occur in the tents.”
Under the inhumane and illegal “Migrant Protection Protocols” policy, 50,000 asylum-seekers have been forced to wait out their cases in Mexico, with the understanding that on the day of their court hearing, they should go to a port of entry and wait to be escorted over. But this has been a sham process, with families left stranded, and others missing their court dates due to threats to their safety. Those who do manage to make it are appearing for a court proceeding that is a mockery of justice.
The chairs note that “fewer than 2% of migrants subject to MPP currently have attorneys,” and that those who don’t are forced to fend for themselves in courts that are shut off to public observers. “This is a violation of federal regulations which state ‘All hearings, other than exclusion hearings, shall be open to the public,’” Castro, Judiciary chair Jerry Nadler, Homeland Security chair Bennie Thompson, Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties chair Jamie Raskin, Judiciary Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee chair Zoe Lofgren, and Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations chair Kathleen Rice write.
Asylum-seekers don’t appear in front of a judge, but rather in front of a televised feed of a judge who is actually 150 miles away. Immigrant rights advocates have described how these feeds have cut out during personal testimonies, leaving traumatized people to have to repeat their experiences to the court numerous times. This practice, the chairs write, harms asylum-seekers’ cases because judges may not be able “to adequately assess nonverbal cues and [that] can impact their assessment of an individuals’s demeanor and credibility.”
The chairs also make important note of the harm this policy causes by sending vulnerable people to dangerous regions of Mexico “where crime is rampant and migrants are often targeted.” In fact, a recent report from Human Rights First has documented hundreds of instances of violence against returned families, flying in the face of now-former acting DHS head Kevin McAleenan, who uttered one of the administration’s worst lies when he said that the policy has “successfully provided protections” to families.
There is yet another humanitarian disaster happening at the border, and the administration hopes that by keeping these families on the other side of it, Americans won’t notice or get outraged. “The U.S. is legally obligated to thoroughly review asylum claims from families threatened with violence and murder in their home countries,” Lofgren tweeted. “The Trump administration is unlawfully funneling people into tent courts where their due process rights are violated. It's cruel and unacceptable.”
