Advocates Warn of 'Catastrophic Harms' to Migrants due to DHS Policy

CLINIC, Feb. 6, 2019

"CLINIC, with its partners, the American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association submitted a letter Feb. 6, 2019 to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen urging her to rescind the Remain in Mexico policy immediately. The letter includes first-hand testimonies of 10 families attesting to the violence and harm–including rape, beatings, kidnappings, and ransom–they faced on the Mexican side of our southern border. 

The letter also contains data from surveys conducted with 500 women detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. The survey data, collected by staff at the Dilley Pro Bono Project, reveals that the policy’s promise of a safe process flies in the face of the real dangers faced by asylum seekers in Mexico. The continued implementation – and possible expansion – of the policy will put thousands of migrants seeking humanitarian risk at serious risk of harm by forcing them to remain in Mexico pending their request for protection. More information about the Remain in Mexico Policy can be found here.

The Dilley Pro Bono Project is a partnership created as part of the CARA Project – a collaboration dedicated to promoting and strengthening the rights of immigrants, with a particular focus on ending family detention. The project is comprised of the American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc."