After a quick rollout of the Migrant Protection Protocols, or “Remain in Mexico” program, immigrants and asylum seekers are being harshly affected by the disorganization. The program requires many asylum seekers who apply at the Mexican-U.S. border to await their hearing in Mexico instead of in the U.S. Because of the disorganization with border officials, many are missing their court hearings and are being ordered deported as a result. One woman arrived at the border at 4:30 a.m., 3 hours before her scheduled 7:30 a.m. hearing, but border agents didn’t bring her to the U.S. until after 9:00. Her lawyer was able to convince the judge to reschedule her hearing, but not all were so lucky. An immigration official said the program has “broken the courts,” while the director of the Bipartisan Policy Center described the situation as a multifaceted problem. “It’s a volume problem, it’s a planning problem, it’s a systems problem and it’s an operational problem on the ground.
– Weekly Immigration Briefing by Olivia Hester, Immigration Law Analyst at Docketwise
Posted in: Immigration
posted on: September 20, 2019