One thing that Americans almost uniformly believe is that people should have a fair chance in court. But the “Remain in Mexico” or MPP #MigrantPersecutionProtocols program is designed to eliminate fairness. This program is against our collective value of fairness. 1/
The government has forced 10,000s of people who seek asylum to wait in Mexico where there are almost no lawyers. There is literally only one non-profit @AlOtroLado_Org attending to everyone. Volunteers come in weekly to do what they can, but the cases are complex 2/
Most people in #MigrantPersecutionProtocols cannot find a lawyer to help them. Reports are that almost 99% of people are appearing pro se (without a lawyer). Remember, these are asylum cases so the stakes are high. It’s literally life or death. 3/
People are asked to present at the border at 3:30 AM so they can be taken to court. There are numerous reports of people showing up on the date and time they were told, but CBP not taking them to court because they didn’t have space or they couldn’t find their name on a list 4/
Why is that a big deal? Well, in immigration court, if you don’t go to court, they give you a deportation order. When people are physically prevented from going to court by the other side in the case, how is that fair? It’s not. 5/
Everything a person files in immigration court needs to be in English. But in #MigrantPersecutionProtocols people don’t have access to translators who can certify translations for court proceedings. This prevents them from being able to file supporting evidence in their cases 6/
The rules require that you serve the other side a copy of what you file in immigration court in person or by first-class mail. People in MPP don’t have access to US postal service so they are prohibited from filing motions or documents ahead of a hearing. How is that fair? 7/
Why might people be missing court dates? I saw MPP paperwork in Spanish where some list month first (American style) & others w/ day first (rest of the world). People told to come on 12/10/2019 & 10/12/2019 actually have the same court date but CBP instructions list date wrong8/8
Glad you asked! The hotline is a 1-800 number that only works from within the United States. They are forced to remain outside the United States so they don’t have US phone numbers to call the 800 number.
https://twitter.com/kathrynllp/status/1166013026484412418?s=21
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