FSW joins advocates protesting inhumane “Remain in Mexico” policy
The wall dividing the Biden administration from nongovernmental organizations that assist refugees on the U.S.-Mexico border is growing taller.
Border advocacy groups walked out of a virtual meeting with Biden administration immigration officials Saturday, Oct. 16, in protest of the U.S. government’s decision to reimplement the Migrant Protection Protocols—or MPP, better known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy. MPP is scheduled to resume in mid-November.
Then, dozens of legal services providers sent a letter to President Biden Oct. 19, refusing to participate in the administration’s efforts to restart MPP. Signers said they will not provide tacit endorsement by continuing to offer legal services to asylum seekers enrolled in the program.
"For months, immigration advocates have asked the president and the Department of Homeland Security to issue a new memorandum to terminate MPP, and they have not done so," explained Elket Rodriguez, immigrant and refugee advocacy and missions specialist for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Fellowship Southwest. “Then, in an abrupt turn from the president’s stated position, Homeland Security announced it will reinstate MPP. This heightens our mistrust and reinforces our doubts about the real motives of the administration. "
The backlash arose after the administration announced Oct 14 it would reinstate the Trump-era practice of forcing migrants at the border to wait in Mexico pending their asylum hearings. This development occurred even though Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas previously announced he would issue a new memorandum ending the policy. Homeland Security officials claim a court ruling invalidating their first attempt to roll back MPP forced them to reinstate the policy, but immigrant advocates aren’t buying that argument.
Before quitting the online meeting with government officials, the advocates read a statement denouncing the administration for breaking its promise and of “playing politics with human lives.”
“There is no improved version of MPP,” the statement insisted. “It is not possible to make the inhumane humane, unfair fair, or to breathe life into a deadly program.”
Meanwhile, the legal services providers who work with asylum seekers on the border warned the administration not to lead their Mexican government counterparts to believe immigration “court hearings will generally conclude within six months” or “nonprofit legal service providers will increase access to counsel.”
“We refuse to be complicit in a program that facilitates the rape, torture, death, and family separations of people seeking protection by committing to provide legal services,” the letter stressed.
Advocates have documented MPP makes immigrants susceptible those examples of violence, and more. Across northern Mexico, waiting asylum seekers are vulnerable to abuse from Mexican drug cartels, even as many live in crowded, unsanitary camps and, in many cases, poorly supervised government immigrant shelters.
Fellowship Southwest has consistently opposed MPP. We stress the policy places undue burdens on asylum seekers, as well as the border pastors who comprise our immigrant relief ministry. Heeding our call to show compassion and serve those in need, Fellowship Southwest has:
Urged the administration to issue a memorandum to terminate MPP
Asked the administration to fight for a permanent end to MPP
Condemned the Supreme Court’s decision allowing reinstatement of MPP
Educated our supporters and others about the implications of this policy
Stressed MPP is un-Christian in its treatment of people created in God’s image.
Fellowship southwest is a member of the Mid-Texas Planning Border Committee, one of five regional groups that joined the meeting with the administration. Fellowship Southwest also is a member of the Welcome with Dignity Campaign that seeks to restore the human rights of asylum seekers. Rodríguez, an immigration attorney, joined the legal services providers’ letter to the president.
If you would like to contribute to our immigrant relief ministry, composed of a network of pastors serving migrants all along the U.S.-Mexico border, click here.