Thread by @AriMSawyer

I spent the day doing court observation at hearings for asylum seekers forced to wait in Mexico under the #MigrantPersecutionProtocols in El Paso. One Central American man there with his 11-year-old daughter had a lot to say to the judge. The school year is supposed to begin. 1/

His little daughter had already lost a year of school because the family had to run for their lives - first his wife and son, followed by him and their daughter. Wife and son have already been let into the US, he said. But he and his daughter were placed into MPP, sent to 3/

Ciudad Juárez, a very dangerous Mexican border city. It’s so dangerous, he said, that even if he had work authorization there, he can’t leave his kid alone. @hrw and others have documented migrants being targeted for kidnapping, extortion, sexual assault, robbery, etc., 3/

The judge told him DHS would refer them for an interview with an asylum officer to see whether or not they could be returned to Mexico again. “Another thing you need to understand is that DHS can detain you in the US if you’re successful in that interview,” the judge said. 4/

“I don’t say that to scare you, but I want you to be prepared,” he said. When the judge asked if the man and others needed more time for an attorney, the man stood up again, thanking everyone in court for being there today. “Can I tell you a little joke?” he said. 5/

Because his wife and son had gone first, and because he’d been trapped in Ciudad Juárez for the past 4.5 months where he was not authorized (and anyway too afraid) to work, he said he had no money to get an attorney. “So I don’t have an attorney here today but I do have proof 6/

that shows why we fled our country for our lives,” he said, gesturing with the thick folder he held in his hand. Unfortunately, there are very few attorneys capable of representing asylum seekers forced to wait in Mexico. Here’s a report on that by @hrw hrw.org/report/2019/07… 7/

In fact, there aren’t many attorneys representing asylum seekers in MPP for a fee. Only 1.3% of those in MPP had an attorney. The program has no meaningful access to due process. Here’s @humanrights1st on that, plus many other troubling updates: humanrightsfirst.org/sites/default/… 8/

In fact, none of those present in the courtroom had an attorney and almost all expressed fear at the prospect of being sent to Mexico - AGAIN. Well folks, the judge told this man and his kid to keep trying and to come back in 3 weeks. His daughter’s education will likely 9/

continue to be disrupted, along with the education of thousands of other children currently forced to remain in Mexico. And it’s important to remember that this is an unnecessary and abusive choice DHS has made over other rights-respecting alternatives. 10/

I often feel like if ppl could just talk to these folks, see them fighting for their lives and somehow still trying to be polite and follow every new made up rule, they’d see that the Trump administration’s claim that the US is dealing with an “invasion” is a total lie. 11/

Anyway, since @DHSgov won’t end the MPP immediately, Congress must act to fight for the soul of America: defund the program and pass comprehensive immigration reform to stop this and other horrendous policies promulgated by the Trump administration. 12/

Please and thank you /FIN