A refugee camp grows on the US-Mexico border
4 years, 10 months ago

A refugee camp grows on the US-Mexico border

Al Jazeera  

In Mexico’s Matamoros, thousands of asylum seekers wait in an encampment for their asylum cases to be heard in the US. Matamoros, Mexico – Preparing for lunch hour, Maria* adds firewood to her wide mud stove shaded by a tarp shelter amid hundreds of similar structures home to asylum seekers like her, waiting for months in this camp with hopes to cross the border, just a few paces away, into the United States. “But as soon as we get into hurricane season, we’re going to see the river flood.” Challenge with getting legal counsel The shelter, Pimental says, is a temporary solution. “There’s no hard data we can access.” Lawyers estimate that about one percent of asylum claims are being approved from the Matamoros camp. “All the sacrifice that these people have made in the end isn’t worth anything.” If her family’s asylum isn’t granted, Maria says, she’ll use some money she’s saved from her business to pay smugglers to take them over the river anyway.

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History of this topic

Mexican authorities clear one of Mexico City’s largest downtown migrant tent encampments
7 months ago

Mexican authorities clear one of Mexico City’s largest downtown migrant tent encampments

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — Mexican federal immigration authorities said Thursday they have cleared one of Mexico City’s largest downtown tent encampments of migrants. The National Immigration Institute says the migrants had been forced to pay bribes of between $12 and $35 to an official, who they didn’t identify, for the right to pitch a tent in the tightly-packed space. Residents of …

Mexican border city struggles to find space for migrants even with a new shelter
1 year, 4 months ago

Mexican border city struggles to find space for migrants even with a new shelter

Associated Press  

MATAMOROS, Mexico — At a massive encampment near an international bridge along the U.S.-Mexico border, migrants from Honduras, Haiti, Venezuela and elsewhere have turned scraps of plastic, poster board and rope into makeshift homes. Mexico’s immigration agency and a Catholic aid group are offering what may be at least a partial solution to conditions in this and other camps just …

Mexico migrant camp tents torched across border from Texas
1 year, 8 months ago

Mexico migrant camp tents torched across border from Texas

Associated Press  

MATAMOROS, Mexico — About two dozen makeshift tents were set ablaze and destroyed at a migrant camp across the border from Texas this week, witnesses said Friday, a sign of the extreme risk that comes with being stuck in Mexico as the Biden administration increasingly relies on that country to host people fleeing poverty and violence. The fires were set …

Migrants gather in Mexico near U.S. border as Trump asylum restrictions near expiration
2 years ago

Migrants gather in Mexico near U.S. border as Trump asylum restrictions near expiration

LA Times  

Senda de Vida 2 in Reynosa, Mexico, is among the shelters housing more would-be asylum seekers this week. Thousands of migrants packed shelters on Mexico’s border with the United States on Friday as the end neared for Trump-era asylum restrictions. U.S. border cities, most notably El Paso, Texas, are also facing a daily influx of migrants that the Biden administration …

US shift on Venezuelan migrants fuels anxiety in Mexico
2 years, 2 months ago

US shift on Venezuelan migrants fuels anxiety in Mexico

Associated Press  

TIJUANA, Mexico — Jose Maria Garcia Lara got a call asking if his shelter had room for a dozen Venezuelan migrants who were among the first expelled to Mexico under an expanded U.S. policy that denies rights to seek asylum. The U.S. expelled Venezuelans to Tijuana and four other Mexican border cities since Wednesday, said Jeremy MacGillivray, deputy director of …

Mexico relocates migrant camp; Haitians appear at border
2 years, 8 months ago

Mexico relocates migrant camp; Haitians appear at border

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said Tuesday they have relocated a migrant camp that sprung up in a park in the border city of Reynosa, moving about 2,000 people from Central American and Haiti to a shelter in the city, across the border from McAllen, Texas. But on Monday, people in another border city, Nuevo Laredo, said hundreds of migrants, …

US will resume policy for asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico
3 years, 1 month ago

US will resume policy for asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico

Associated Press  

SAN DIEGO — Migrants seeking to enter the United States will again have to stay in Mexico as they await immigration hearings, as the Biden administration reluctantly announced plans Thursday to reinstate the Trump-era policy and agreed to Mexico’s conditions for resuming it. Mexico’s foreign relations secretary said in light of U.S. concessions Mexico will allow returns, expected to begin …

Migrant camps grow in Mexico amid uncertainty on US policy
3 years, 1 month ago

Migrant camps grow in Mexico amid uncertainty on US policy

Associated Press  

TIJUANA, Mexico — As darkness fell, about 250 police officers and city workers swept into a squalid camp for migrants hoping to apply for asylum in the United States. Montserrat Caballero, Tijuana’s first female mayor, said officials did “almost nothing” to control the camp before she took office Oct. 1. “There is no asylum process until further notice,” Enrique Lucero, …

At US-Mexico border, asylum seekers maintain hope amid hardships
3 years, 1 month ago

At US-Mexico border, asylum seekers maintain hope amid hardships

Al Jazeera  

The US reopened its borders this week to non-essential travellers, but most asylum seekers continue to be turned away. Makeshift camps house hundreds along the US-Mexico border, where US authorities this fiscal year detained a record-high 1.7 million migrants trying to enter the country. I want to go to the United States, but with my mom,” a girl named Evelyn, …

Mexico faces migration crises on northern, southern borders
3 years, 4 months ago

Mexico faces migration crises on northern, southern borders

Al Jazeera  

Mexico has faced immigration pressures from the north, south and within its own borders in recent weeks, putting it in an increasingly difficult position. Mexico’s northern border Concern has been growing in northern Mexico since the US Supreme Court ordered the restart of the controversial programme that made asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases are processed. The Trump-era …

Conditions worsen at asylum seekers’ camps in north Mexico
3 years, 6 months ago

Conditions worsen at asylum seekers’ camps in north Mexico

Associated Press  

TIJUANA, México — Crowding and unsanitary conditions are getting worse at informal camps set up in northern Mexico by asylum seekers waiting to make asylum claims in the United States. U.S. President Joe Biden has abandoned some of former president Donald Trump’s hardline policies, most notably one that forced asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court. …

Asylum-Seekers Are Entering The U.S. Again — But Many More Migrants Are Left Behind
3 years, 10 months ago

Asylum-Seekers Are Entering The U.S. Again — But Many More Migrants Are Left Behind

NPR  

Asylum-Seekers Are Entering The U.S. Again — But Many More Migrants Are Left Behind Enlarge this image toggle caption John Burnett/NPR John Burnett/NPR Sandra Zuniga and her teenaged son, Elder, are among the lucky ones. Enlarge this image toggle caption John Burnett/NPR John Burnett/NPR Border getting "more and more jammed up" Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week called the …

Matamoros to the US: A long journey across a short bridge
3 years, 10 months ago

Matamoros to the US: A long journey across a short bridge

Al Jazeera  

This week Joe Biden’s reversal of Trump immigration policies took shape as asylum seekers crossed into the US. Sister Norma Pimentel, the executive director of Catholic Charities, believes that all camp residents are “at risk and vulnerable” and therefore, everyone from the camp, regardless of MPP status, would be reviewed. Registration of the entire camp took less than a day …

First asylum seekers from Mexico’s Matamoros border camp enter US
3 years, 10 months ago

First asylum seekers from Mexico’s Matamoros border camp enter US

Al Jazeera  

Some of the asylum seekers have been there more than a year due to immigration rules set by former President Trump. The first asylum seekers from a Mexican border camp that had become a symbol of Trump-era immigration restrictions entered the United States on Thursday under a new policy meant to end the hardships endured by migrants in dangerous border …

Biden immigration policy stirs confusion at Mexico border
3 years, 10 months ago

Biden immigration policy stirs confusion at Mexico border

LA Times  

Salvadoran asylum seeker Karla Rivera Hernandez, 24, holds her 1-year-old son Mateo A. Rivera on Thursday at a bus station in Brownsville, Texas, as they wait to go to the airport. Rivera, 24, a single mother working as a cook, left for the border last month hoping President Biden’s new immigration policies would allow her to stay in the U.S. …

I Spent 5 Days At The Largest Migrant Refugee Camp On The U.S. Border. Here's What I Saw.
3 years, 10 months ago

I Spent 5 Days At The Largest Migrant Refugee Camp On The U.S. Border. Here's What I Saw.

Huff Post  

The author stands at the border during his time in Brownsville, Texas. The Matamoros Refugee Camp is an example of the lingering damage left from the Trump administration’s euphemistically named Migrant Protection Protocols. Last February, the “Witnesses” were still taking people across the Brownsville & Matamoros Express International Bridge to experience firsthand the stark reality of the refugee camp there, …

Asylum-Seekers Hope Biden's Pledge To Welcome Immigrants Includes Them
3 years, 11 months ago

Asylum-Seekers Hope Biden's Pledge To Welcome Immigrants Includes Them

NPR  

Asylum-Seekers Hope Biden's Pledge To Welcome Immigrants Includes Them Enlarge this image toggle caption Christian Chavez/AP Christian Chavez/AP President Biden is promising kinder, more welcoming immigration policies — and raising hopes for asylum-seekers throughout the hemisphere. "It's not difficult to predict that we're gonna see some more individuals coming across our borders," says Trey Mendez, mayor of Brownsville, Texas. "Now …

Keeping up appearances: Asylum seekers on the US-Mexico border
4 years ago

Keeping up appearances: Asylum seekers on the US-Mexico border

Al Jazeera  

Furniture making, housekeeping and makeup practice – people of Matamoros camp pass the time in the long wait for asylum. Since the introduction of the Migrant Protection Protocols – also known as “Remain in Mexico” policies – in 2019, asylum seekers hoping to enter the United States via the US-Mexico border must wait in Mexico for the duration of their …

Lost and found: Stories from Matamoros camp on US-Mexico border
4 years, 1 month ago

Lost and found: Stories from Matamoros camp on US-Mexico border

Al Jazeera  

Since the introduction of the Migrant Protection Protocols – also known as “Remain in Mexico” – in 2019, asylum seekers seeking to enter the US via the US-Mexico border must wait in Mexico for the duration of their US immigration court proceedings. With all court hearings suspended since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the camp’s residents have repeatedly had …

‘We have to keep fighting’: Asylum seekers at US-Mexico border
4 years, 2 months ago

‘We have to keep fighting’: Asylum seekers at US-Mexico border

Al Jazeera  

Residents of a camp located across the border from Texas reflect on what the US elections may mean for them. Since the introduction of the Migrant Protection Protocols – also known as “Remain in Mexico” – in 2019, asylum seekers seeking to enter the US via the US-Mexico border must wait in Mexico for the duration of their US immigration …

Asylum seekers in limbo look to US election with hope and fear
4 years, 2 months ago

Asylum seekers in limbo look to US election with hope and fear

Al Jazeera  

Medellin, Colombia – When Jose Luis Pino walks outside in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, he is too scared to speak. “We’re just trying to survive until our court date.” He is among more than 67,000 asylum seekers including Cubans, Venezuelans and Central Americans who are stuck on the US border due to a Trump administration policy, Migrant Protection Protocols, also known …

Asylum seekers in Mexico suffer following Hurricane Hanna
4 years, 5 months ago

Asylum seekers in Mexico suffer following Hurricane Hanna

Al Jazeera  

People in camps in Mexico were forced to retreat to higher ground after the level of the Rio Grande rose by 12 feet. Hundreds of asylum seekers living in already squalid conditions in Matamoros, northern Mexico, were forced to retreat to higher ground when the level of the Rio Grande rose by 12 feet after the year’s first Atlantic hurricane, …

Democratic lawmakers visit camp in Mexico where migrants wait to claim asylum
4 years, 11 months ago

Democratic lawmakers visit camp in Mexico where migrants wait to claim asylum

CNN  

Matamoros, Mexico CNN — Eighteen members of Congress descended on a Mexican camp sitting near the US border Friday where hundreds of migrants are waiting to claim asylum. “We wanted to keep highlighting the human rights abuses that the administration is generating.” The Department of Homeland Security has defended the policy, calling it an “effective tool to address the ongoing …

Few Asylum-Seekers Winning Cases Under 'Remain In Mexico' Program
5 years ago

Few Asylum-Seekers Winning Cases Under 'Remain In Mexico' Program

NPR  

Few Asylum-Seekers Winning Cases Under 'Remain In Mexico' Program Enlarge this image toggle caption Eric Gay/AP Eric Gay/AP It was never easy for migrants to win asylum cases in U.S. immigration courts. They had no choice, Stopher says, as the migrant shelters in town refuse to unlock their doors until the light of day because it's notoriously dangerous outside, and …

Mexican Official Tries To Move Asylum-Seekers Stuck In Tent Camps
5 years, 2 months ago

Mexican Official Tries To Move Asylum-Seekers Stuck In Tent Camps

NPR  

Mexican Official Tries To Move Asylum-Seekers Stuck In Tent Camps Enlarge this image toggle caption Veronica G. Cardenas for Texas Public Radio Veronica G. Cardenas for Texas Public Radio In Matamoros, Mexico, more than 1,500 asylum-seekers are living in squalid conditions in a tent encampment and Mexican officials want them to move. Enlarge this image toggle caption Veronica G. Cardenas …

For transgender migrants fleeing death threats, asylum in the U.S. is a crapshoot
5 years, 2 months ago

For transgender migrants fleeing death threats, asylum in the U.S. is a crapshoot

LA Times  

As has happened so often in her life, Mayela Villegas once again faced the threat of violence. A Homeland Security spokeswoman said asylum seekers may be removed from the program and allowed into the U.S. if they are “more likely than not to face persecution or torture in Mexico.” Some transgender migrants have indeed been released or placed in detention …

Asylum seekers cling to hope, safety in camp at US-Mexico border
5 years, 2 months ago

Asylum seekers cling to hope, safety in camp at US-Mexico border

Al Jazeera  

About 1,000 migrants live in Mexico border camp, waiting for US immigration hearings as part of Remain in Mexico policy. The cramped camp, in a partly fenced-in plaza abutting administrative buildings just feet from the Rio Grande, is home to approximately 1,000 migrants and asylum seekers, many of them sent back to Mexico to await US immigration hearings under a …

12 Asylum-Seekers Julián Castro Escorted To The U.S. Border Sent Back To Mexico
5 years, 3 months ago

12 Asylum-Seekers Julián Castro Escorted To The U.S. Border Sent Back To Mexico

NPR  

12 Asylum-Seekers Julián Castro Escorted To The U.S. Border Sent Back To Mexico Enlarge this image toggle caption John Locher/AP John Locher/AP From Texas Public Radio Julián Castro, Presidential Candidate, Tours Asylum Seekers' Camp In Matamoros Latin America Mexico Ill-Equipped To Handle Asylum Seekers Barred From Entering The U.S. Mexico Ill-Equipped To Handle Asylum Seekers Barred From Entering The U.S. …

Mexico Ill-Equipped To Handle Asylum Seekers Barred From Entering The U.S.
5 years, 3 months ago

Mexico Ill-Equipped To Handle Asylum Seekers Barred From Entering The U.S.

NPR  

Mexico Ill-Equipped To Handle Asylum Seekers Barred From Entering The U.S. Mexico appears ill-equipped to handle the asylum seekers that a recent U.S. court ruling says must stay south of the border. MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: This week's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding President Trump's asylum ban puts Mexico in a difficult position. The ruling essentially bars migrants …

US, Mexico widen asylum crackdown to push back all migrants
5 years, 4 months ago

US, Mexico widen asylum crackdown to push back all migrants

Associated Press  

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico — A Trump administration program forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico has evolved into a sweeping rejection of all forms of migrants, with both countries quietly working to keep people out of the U.S. despite threats to the migrants’ safety. Some people sent to wait in the Mexican border cities of Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros said …

Migrants contemplate dangerous crossings despite border deaths and detention conditions
5 years, 6 months ago

Migrants contemplate dangerous crossings despite border deaths and detention conditions

LA Times  

Candles are placed Saturday on the Tijuana side of the U.S.-Mexico border fence in memory of migrants who have died during their journey toward the U.S. Candles and crosses stand Tijuana in memory of migrants who died during their journey toward the U.S. Migrant advocates, meanwhile, held vigils Sunday for six migrants who died attempting to cross the river last …

Pregnant women, other vulnerable asylum seekers are returned to Mexico to await hearings
5 years, 7 months ago

Pregnant women, other vulnerable asylum seekers are returned to Mexico to await hearings

LA Times  

Linda Rivas, right, executive director of El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, helps Guatemalan migrant Enma Hernandez, center, and several other pregnant women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Immigrant advocates point out that pregnant women are given priority on the wait lists coordinated by U.S. Customs officers, whereas Border Patrol agents — part of the same agency — include pregnant …

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