Our team just returned from Matamoros, where there are 1,600 people sleeping in tents by the border b/c they have been returned under Remain in Mexico.
Hundreds of people in a sprawling tent encampment w/no infrastructure—mothers, children, ordinary people.
People like Natasha.
Hundreds of people in a sprawling tent encampment w/no infrastructure—mothers, children, ordinary people.
People like Natasha.
Natasha is trans. She fled Honduras after repeated attacks for her identity. Honduras is dangerous for trans folks & she sought asylum in the US.
They turned her back. Her court date is June 2020. She has to wait in Mexico till then, w/no care & suffering anti-trans abuse.
They turned her back. Her court date is June 2020. She has to wait in Mexico till then, w/no care & suffering anti-trans abuse.
In Honduras, Natasha worked as a housekeeper, but her pay was regularly stolen by gang members who targeted her for being trans.
She has visible scars from these attacks.
At the border, US officials didn't listen to her. She had little chance to explain the violence she fled.
She has visible scars from these attacks.
At the border, US officials didn't listen to her. She had little chance to explain the violence she fled.
"Yo les decía que a Honduras no vuelvo. Prefiero que me maten mil veces pero no vuelvo."
"I told them that I will not go back to Honduras," she said. "I'd rather be killed a thousand times, but I won't go back."
They didn't listen. They sent her back to Mexico, to danger.
"I told them that I will not go back to Honduras," she said. "I'd rather be killed a thousand times, but I won't go back."
They didn't listen. They sent her back to Mexico, to danger.
Natasha keeps getting verbal abuse & threats for being trans in Mexico, as most trans folks do when fleeing Central America.
The same happened w/a group of 80+ LGBTQ folks we helped called La Comunidad last year.
It's predictable—& our policies allow it.
The same happened w/a group of 80+ LGBTQ folks we helped called La Comunidad last year.
It's predictable—& our policies allow it.
"I never, never thought they'd send me to a place like this, because if you could see how I've suffered...no one is helping me, no one knows me, I don't have money. I spent two days w/out eating until they gave me food."
She fled hundreds of miles & this is how we treat her.
She fled hundreds of miles & this is how we treat her.
Both men & women make fun of LGBTQ folks in the camp, she said. "I'm afraid they will hurt me. I don't feel safe here."
Imagine escaping violence at the hands of gangs, crossing hundreds of miles, recounting your trauma to uncaring officers, & being rewarded with this.
Imagine escaping violence at the hands of gangs, crossing hundreds of miles, recounting your trauma to uncaring officers, & being rewarded with this.
This is the *direct result* of Remain in Mexico. The Trump administration has once again manufactured a humanitarian crisis by returning 50,000 people to Mexico to wait in these dangerous conditions.
Those suffering are people like Natasha. Their lives are actively endangered.
Those suffering are people like Natasha. Their lives are actively endangered.
We must stop Remain in Mexico.
It's putting thousands at risk & flies in the face of domestic & international law guaranteeing a right to seek asylum.
It's more vast than any Trump policy before it—effectively a wall w/out a wall.
It's anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, & illegal.
It's putting thousands at risk & flies in the face of domestic & international law guaranteeing a right to seek asylum.
It's more vast than any Trump policy before it—effectively a wall w/out a wall.
It's anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, & illegal.
And it's hurting people like Natasha most, who have undergone a trek more arduous than any most of us will undertake, only to be told to wait on the streets, in a tent, until her day in court.
"Imagine, I have to spend eight months here."
A complete travesty.
"Imagine, I have to spend eight months here."
A complete travesty.
