Thread: NEW data and research out on the Remain in Mexico policy. We show asylum seekers are being sent to Mexico despite telling U.S. immigration officials their persecutor(s) can find and have access to them there. Data also show violence and homelessness are systematic. 1\ 
This report is based on over 600 interviews with asylum seekers in Tijuana, Mexico and in Mexicali, Mexico. No person was interviewed unless we could verify their MPP status. Verification of MPP status was done by examining the DHS paperwork of our respondents 2/
Regarding process and protections against refoulement, nearly 9 out of every 10 (89.5%) who were asked by U.S. immigration officials about fear of being returned to Mexico responded by expressing fear of being returned to Mexico 3/
40.4% were given a secondary interview by an asylum officer and 59.6% were not. In other words, U.S. immigration officials further investigated the fears of approximately 4 out of every 10 who expressed fear about being returned to Mexico 4/
However, this means that approximately 6 out of every 10 were placed into the Remain in Mexico policy without any further investigation into the fears that they expressed about being returned to Mexico 5/
Moreover, of those who expressed fear of being returned to Mexico and were given a secondary interview by an asylum officer, 63.9% reported that their persecutor(s) can find and have access to them in Mexico but were returned to Mexico anyway 6/
Just 17.1% of our respondents reported that they were given information by U.S. immigration officials about how to access legal services while in Mexico. However, this was mostly comprised of respondents being given a list of legal service providers in San Diego 7/
Just 19.7% of our respondents reported that they were given information by U.S. immigration officials about how to access social services, such as housing and food, while in Mexico 8/
Regarding conditions in Mexico, Approximately 1 out of every 4 of our respondents (23.1%) have been threatened with physical violence while in Mexico 9/
Just over 1 out of every 5 of our respondents (21.9%) who are seeking asylum with children under the age of 18 have been threatened with physical violence while in Mexico 10/
Altogether, 56.5% of our respondents who have been threatened with physical violence reported that these threats turned into actual experiences of physical violence, including being beaten, robbed, and extorted 11/
The length of time spent waiting in Mexico is statistically significantly related to being threatened with physical violence. Approximately 1 out of every 3 of will likely be threatened with physical violence in Mexico before they make it to their immigration court dates 12/
Just over 1 out of every 3 of our respondents (34.5%) have experienced homelessness while in Mexico 13/
Approximately 1 out of every 3 of our respondents (31.9%) who are seeking asylum with children under the age of 18 have experienced homelessness while in Mexico 14/
The length of time spent waiting in Mexico is statistically significantly related to experiencing homelessness. Over 4 out of every 10 of our respondents will likely experience homelessness in Mexico before they make it to their immigration court dates 15/
Much, much more in the report. Including experiences of discrimination, being told by Mexican officials they are unable to work while in Mexico, and experiences while in U.S. immigration detention 16/
This work could not have been done without the work of USIPC Immigrant Rights & Justice Fellow Vanessa Ceceña 17/
We are especially grateful to the staff and volunteers at our migrant shelter partners, including Border Kindness (Mexicali, Mexico), American Friends Service Committee (Tijuana, Mexico and Mexicali, Mexico), and Espacio Migrante (Tijuana, Mexico) 18/
See the full report here, as well as a solid policy brief on MPP by Krista Kshatriya and @kangborderlaw usipc.ucsd.edu/publications/i… 19/
And this from Greg Sargent @ThePlumLineGS and the @washingtonpost washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/… 20/
Altogether, legal challenges to MPP have centered on the questions of whether there are sufficient safeguards to protect against refoulement and whether asylum seekers are safe while waiting in Mexico. Our data show that the answer to both questions is no. end/
