As the #AsylumBan decision was issued, handing death sentences to 1000s of ppl seeking safety, I was crossing into the US from Mexicali after 3 days providing legal triage to victims of Trump’s #MigrantPersecutionProtocols. I then drove 4 hours back to LA, blissfully unaware. 1/
News of this cruel decision from #SCOTUS is sinking in within the context of what I saw and heard over the last three days. Seems like a good time to share a bit of what is happening in Mexicali, where 6000+ ppl have been forced back after seeking asylum. Here is my context. 2/
It’s brutally hot in Mexicali. When I arrived it was about 105 & ppl kept telling me it was 120 two weeks ago. Multiple ppl I met mentioned there kids had suffered illnesses related to the heat. And that’s another thing, there are so many kids. So many toddlers and babies. 3/ 
@ImmDef ‘s goal this week was to work with our partners @asylumaccess and @BorderKindness to provide legal orientations and asylum application assistance to as many folks as our team of 5 (ImmDef) + 3 (Asylum Access)+ 2 (Border Kindess) could handle. It was a challenge. 4/
In the end we did Know Your Rights presentations for about 50 families, filled out about 40 asylum applications and @ImmDef initiated representation with more than 20 ppl. We also successful advocated with CBP for 5 people to be admitted for asylum processing immediately. 5/
Sitting at home now thinking of everyone I met this week and how this news will impact them. Like the young single dad who fled persecution inNicaragua and then travelled by foot and bus and train to Mexicali with his 4 y/o son riding much of the way on his shoulders. 6/
One mom traveling with her two small children told me that she fled Honduras because the gangs were like a plague. “I knew it was going to get us, my kids were next, so we left” she told me. Her little boy was nursing and fell asleep while we talked. 7/
Lots of conversations had amongst the attorneys that ended w/ “well this is better than doing nothing” as we filled out application after application by hand. Volunteers, many asylum seekers themselves, from @BorderKindness made copies so ppl would have completed apps to file. 8/
It’s hard to advise ppl if they want to give up on the #MPP process. We could say, “well we think this judge will just terminate if you don’t go” or “that IJ is likely to order you deported if you go in person.” These answers make no sense and FFS ppl’s lives are at stake. 9/
One of our attorneys helped a mom with a 13 day old baby present herself at the border. It turned into a 3 hour ordeal that ended with Mexican officials forcing the atty to sign a piece of paper saying they would not try to help ppl seek asylum at the border in the future. 10/
So many stories of rape, kidnapping and exploitation of migrants in Mexicali. Folks being returned after MPP hearings are specifically targeted for kidnappings. One young couple was so traumatized after being kidnapped they spoke in a whisper our entire consultation. 11/
Shelters in Mexicali range from just barely okay to horrific. We went to an old abandoned grocery store that is being renovated (according to local officials) to be able to hold as many as 5000 asylum seekers. Seems like a security nightmare and unclear who will live there 12/
In Mexicali MPP you have to go to court in San Diego, 110 miles away. For ppl w/ 8:30am hearings, they must appear at the port-of-entry in Tijuana at 3am. This notice is for a mom with 3 kids under 10, expected to travel from one unsafe city to another in the dead of night. 13/
Heard about horrific abuses by CBP, including women being groped and digitally penetrated by officers during “searches.” Convenient for the perpetrators that the victims are stuck in MX with no access to counsel or ability to complain. 14/
My co-workers are funny & we laughed a lot this week, despite so much darkness. We told each other funny stories over dinner. We celebrated when the kids we were helping crossed. We left knowing we made a difference for some folks, & that seems like a success. 15/15.
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