Thread by @lomikriel

Katherin & family face court in El Paso tomorrow. After a soccer game against a woman who turned out to be a narco’s sister, she was beaten, kidnapped, & threatened w/ death. 2 friends were killed. They have been in Juarez for 2 months trying to request asylum at port of entry

After 2 months of waiting on the list they were turned away and told to remain in Mexico under the Trump Administration’s new MPP policy. ~ 1.5 K asylum seekers have been turned back. The program is an unprecedented policy shift and being argued in court.
houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-t…

Katherin and her family have run out of money and been in 3 different shelters in Juarez, all of which are full. They don’t have a lawyer tomorrow because they couldn’t find anyone. It’s not clear to anyone how US lawyers should or can represent asylum seekers in Mexico.

See @Haleaziz latest story from court hearing on policy today:
“The stakes are very high. If the government is granted a stay, then they will keep expanding this policy, returning more people in more locations."

buzzfeednews.com/article/hameda…

And my story on some other Central American asylum seekers returned to Juarez, a city it’s mayor said is already full and “nearing a humanitarian crisis.”
houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-t…

And here is an explainer by @DLind on the most significant Trump policy you’ve never heard about: vox.com/2019/3/5/18244…

Oh sorry this is the link I meant to share about other asylum seekers turned back under Trump’s MPP: houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-t…

Katherin & family will show up to court tomorrow after waiting now for + 3 months to legally request asylum in El Paso They will likely be returned to Juarez to wait more. They don't have a lawyer, can't reach one, and don't have a place to stay when they are returned or any $.

Regardless of what you think about the policy, this seems sure to escalate tensions in Juarez and put people at risk.

The @TexasTribune 's @nachoaguilar was in El Paso's immigration court this morning along with @BobMooreNews and reports that Katherin & her family were part of 17 Central American asylum seekers telling the judge that they didn't want to go back to Mexico. Next hearing is in May.

Missed this b/c I was dealing with other news. @nachoaguilar caught up with Katherin & family at their El Paso immigration court hearing. The lack of info migrants returned to Juarez have about the process is stunning, the lack of shelter space concerning
texastribune.org/2019/04/26/mig…

Kathrin, the Honduran mom who has waited 3 months in Juarez to ask asylum at the port of entry, has just been returned back to Mexico for the 2nd time after their first US hearing. There is no longer space for them to stay in the main migrant shelter & they don't have money left

She called me crying, saying they don't know what to do & they don't even have $ to taxi to another shelter. She said Mexican officials are telling her it's no longer their responsibility. Their next US court date is only at the end of May. She doesn't know how they will make it

'It's not fair. We tried to do it the right way.' They have been waiting 3 months to legally ask for asylum at the POE; her cousin crossed the river illegally last week and is already with family in the US. More on why Kathrin came here: she's desperate: houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-t…

Even if they do cross the river now, they have open US court dates and by not making the next one they'll have orders of deportation issued. Their only real chance at asylum is to wait, but she doesn't know how much longer they can. "It's been almost 3 months."