At least four migrants who crossed between the Rio Grande Valley ports of entry were enrolled into a controversial program that forces migrants to wait their U.S. court hearings in Mexico, according to a human rights advocacy group.
The second iteration of the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as Remain in Mexico, began at the El Paso Port of entry Dec. 8 after a federal court decision compelled the Biden Administration, which had previously ended the program, to reinstate it.
But who is being placed in the program is not currently being disclosed by the U.S. government.
“For operational security reasons, DHS is not sharing details such as location of initial returns or number of individuals enrolled,” a statement from a CBP spokesperson said. “DHS is closely coordinating the court-mandated reimplementation of MPP with the Government of Mexico to address security concerns and operational constraints.”
The advocacy group, Human Rights First, is tallying the numbers by leveraging information shared with them from Mexican sources.
On Friday, Julia Neusner, an associate attorney of the organization, shared the 10 day totals on social media.
10 days into launch of Remain in Mexico/MPP 2.0 at the El Paso POE, Biden admin has returned 176 migrants and asylum seekers from Nicaragua (>half), Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and Ecuador to MX while continuing to use Title 42 to expel Mexicans, Hondurans, Guatemalans, and others. pic.twitter.com/RmDCCUcIWN
— Julia Neusner (@JuliaNeusner) December 17, 2021
According to their estimates, 176 migrants and asylum seekers were placed in the program since Dec. 8. More than half are from Nicaragua, while a smaller portion are from Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and Ecuador.
All were single men, with the youngest being 19 years old.
The Human Rights First network interviewed at least 16 people in El Paso.
Four men, two from Nicaragua and two from Venezuela, said they crossed into the U.S. in late November through Reynosa and were detained by Border Patrol agents.
Neusner said the four men were in custody for about 10 to 12 days or possibly longer, and “they described really horrendous conditions of confinement in McAllen.”
They reported sleeping on the floor covered only with a foil blanket under lights that were never turned off.
“A number of them said they became sick, because of the conditions they were kept in and were denied medical attention,” Neusner said. “Somebody said that the only way you could get medical attention is if you were unconscious.”
Although migrants sent from CBP to ICE are allowed to make calls to their families, those who remained in CBP custody said they were not able to notify their families of their whereabouts for over a week.
The men were later placed on lateral flights — a practice used by the agency to move migrants from one sector to another — and flown to El Paso after Dec. 8. They were walked to an international bridge where Mexican immigration officers took them into custody and processed them into MPP at a tent. They gave them a temporary work permit, held a presentation and then drove them to a shelter in Ciudad Juarez, according to statements given to Human Rights First.
The men said they were not made aware they would be placed into the program and some said they were told they’d be released to family in the U.S.
“There’s no evidence to know, but I suspect they were put under consideration for the program before being flown to El Paso,” Neusner said. “Because the people who we spoke with said the other people on the plane with them, as far as they knew, were of the nationalities that we’ve seen in MPP so far and that they were all adults.”
The real concern for the advocacy group, which documented at least 1,544 kidnappings and other reports of attacks on people who were put into the program under the Trump administration, is the safety of migrants who are now expected to live close to the border on the Mexican side.
Migrants under the current MPP have already been advised they’ll need to report to the bridge for their court hearings at 4:30 a.m., forcing them to walk through the city at night. Migrants have shared many stories of kidnappings that happened on their way to and from hearings.
The same concerns — insecurity in border cities, lack of holding space in federal facilities, insufficient medical attention, and an ‘incommunicado’ state — surfaced the first time the program was implemented under the Trump administration.
The men who crossed into the McAllen region arrived at the same time when the overall number of encounters along the border was increasing.
Over the summer, a record-breaking number of encounters were reported between federal agents and migrants. After swelling in July, the crossings decreased through October. On Friday, CBP released November data showing an end to the downward trend.
In November, the agency reported 173,600 encounters, which represents a 5% increase compared to October.
The number of people who try to enter the country more than one time has increased significantly under the U.S. policy that sends migrants back to Mexico due to the pandemic, also known as Title 42.
Title 42 is leveraged to expel Mexicans, Hondurans, Guatemalans, and other nationalities into Mexico and leave them without an opportunity to seek asylum in the U.S.
The majority of migrants who enter the U.S. through the Valley, about 70%, are citizens of Central American countries. They are not among the nationalities placed into MPP, according to Human Rights First’s records.
MPP is the only program that allows asylum seekers to open a court case.
“We’re not just trying to make people wait their turn. There is no way for people to wait their turn,” Taylor Levy, an immigration attorney, told The Monitor recently.
“I’m not sure if that will change,” Neusner said, referring to the end of Title 42. If expulsions under Title 42 end, however, there could be a shift. “I anticipate they’ll probably start applying Remain in Mexico to those other nationalities as well.”
