Thread by @ReichlinMelnick

Good morning! As most of the nation pays attention to the impeachment hearings, I'll be livetweeting the House Homeland Security Committee's hearing on "Examining the Human Rights and Legal Implications of DHS’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy," the first congressional hearing on MPP.

Today, the House Homeland Security Committee will hear from five witnesses, and examine the issues that MPP has created across the border. They'll hear from advocates, doctors, the asylum officers' union, and former ICE director Tom Homan.

Follow here!

homeland.house.gov/activities/hea…

The hearing officially starts at 10:00 with opening remarks. But before we begin, I want to share @immcouncil's Statement for the Record, which we submitted to the Committee to highlight the harms caused by the Remain in Mexico/MPP policy.

americanimmigrationcouncil.org/advocacy/state…

@immcouncil In our statement for the record, we highlight the stories of three asylum-seeking mothers and children who were sent back under MPP. All three were harmed as a result of this policy, with one mom harmed even more than most.

Here's "Lucia's" story. HUGE trigger warnings, sadly.

@immcouncil "Lucia" is a mom from Ecuador who fled persecution at home, bringing her nine-year-old deaf and mute daughter with her.

After CBP sent them back under MPP, they were held captive by a sexual predator.

CBP sent them back again. This time they were kidnapped and repeatedly raped.

@immcouncil @immcouncil's hearing statement also uplifted "Camila's" story.

Camila was sent back to Mexico under MPP with her son, where she faced repeated bouts of homelessness.

On their way to court, they were almost kidnapped, making them miss their hearing. They got ordered deported.

@immcouncil We also uplifted "Rosalia's" story.

Rosalia was sent back to Mexico under MPP with her 2-year-old daughter. They starved for days after being returned, with her daughter so week she fainted repeatedly.

They missed court because of transportation issues.

@immcouncil And as I finish sharing those stories, the hearing begins.

We begin with Subcommittee Chair @RepKathleenRice, who says people are forced to "wait in conditions that are just as dangerous as the ones they fled."

c-span.org/video/?466576-…

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice In her statement, @RepKathleenRice calls the Remain in Mexico/MPP tent courts as a "growing cause for alarm."

"With barbed wire fences and security managed by private companies, they are closed to the public."

She is right! Here's more from @AILANational
aila.org/advo-media/iss…

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational As she concludes, @RepKathleenRice says that "The Remain in Mexico policy is a reprehensible step backwards" in the American history of providing refuge for people fleeing harm, citing the United State's commitment following the Holocaust to protect refugees.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational We move on to the Republican ranking member, @RepClayHiggins, who notes a concern that no DHS official agreed to appear at this hearing, then criticizes the hearing title as partisan.

Higgins then talks about the increase of families arriving at the border, calling it a crisis.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins Higgins says that it's "not the case" that everyone is turning themselves in at the border, noting a CBP estimate that 150,000 people entered without being caught.

We haven't seen the estimates that generated this figure, and it's very unlikely these people were asylum-seekers.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @RepClayHiggins's statement reads a like a DHS press release.

He says "MPP ends the economic incentive of making a meritless asylum claim," but in reality, MPP prevents even the strongest cases from winning their cases.

I hope the witnesses can help him realize these errors.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins That said, @RepClayHiggins suggests he is not particularly willing to listen to the witnesses, saying that this hearing is a bit like a "show trial" because DHS isn't present, and claims that this is not an actual "fact-finding" hearing.

He's going to learn a lot of facts today!

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins We now move to the opening statement of @BennieGThompson, who calls sending back pregnant women to Mexico "unacceptable," says that secretive port courts run "contrary to American values," and highlights @AILANational's statements that they've been repeatedly denied access.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @BennieGThompson then notes Sister @nspimentel amazing work in the Rio Grande Valley, and says even she has been denied access.

He then moves on to paperwork problems with the MPP process, including claims that CBP fabricated hearing dates. Here's more. latimes.com/world-nation/s…

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @BennieGThompson: "Efficient and effective border security has long been a priority, [] but blocking the asylum process for vulnerable people by risking their lives by putting them in harm's way does not make us any safer—it makes us less the America we hold ourselves out to be."

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel Now we move to @RepMikeRogersAL, who begins by forcefully defending MPP "wholeheartedly," saying it is an effective program and rejects any criticism of the program as endangering asylum seekers.

I hope he pays attention to today's witnesses. With that opening, I worry he won't.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL Now on to the witnesses for their opening statements. Here are the list of witnesses testifying today.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL Notably, the last time Thomas Homan testified in front of Congress, this happened.

We'll see if Homan loses his temper again today.

https://twitter.com/andrewkimmel/status/1177366030487678981

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL First up is Laura Peña, Pro Bono Counsel, American Bar Association Commission on Immigration.

She says MPP deprives Spanish-speaking migrants of their right to a fair hearing. She says the ABA is the only NGO which has had a tour of the Brownsville tent courts.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL Laura Peña says that "The @ABAesq is concerned that DHS's efforts to comply with ... the legal obligation to refrain from sending people to countries where they will suffer persecution or torture has failed."

She notes hundreds of documented kidnappings in cities like Matamoros.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq Peña notes that the tent courts "frustrate meaningful access to counsel," noting limited attorney visitation meeting space. "Attorneys cannot enter this facility to screen potential clients."

She says US lawyers are *prohibited* from meeting with their clients after the hearing.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq Laura Peña notes that her own safety is at risk every time she goes to Mexico to meet with clients.

During one incident, armed men rolled into a refugee camp where she was meeting her clients. She had to leave for her own safety.

"This is not meaningful access to counsel."

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq We move now to the second witness, Erin Thorn Vela, Staff Attorney, Racial and Economic Justice Program, @TXCivilRights.

"The horrors in Matamoros are almost endless. ... Over 1,000 people screened by advocates, more than half report being kidnapped, or extorted, or raped."

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights Erin Thorn Vela notes that the US government is knowingly permitting abuse and torture to the norm, which she says sends the message that anyone can target asylum seekers in Matamoros, and no government will care.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights She also discusses the squalid conditions in the Matamoros refugee camp, which some people who have worked with the UN in places like Iraq say is the worst conditions they've ever seen.

Here's more on those awful conditions. apnews.com/337b139ed4fa4d…

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights Erin Thorn Vela talks about blatant violations of CBP policy and people's civil rights, including:

- A child with down syndrome sent back under MPP
- A deaf, mute non-verbal woman sent back under MPP

CBP repeatedly breaks its own rules. She is so right.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights We move to Todd Schneberk, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Asylum Network Clinician, @P4HR.

He says that "As a medical expert I regularly witness the direct impact of MPP."

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR He is now sharing the symptoms of harms that @P4HR has documented at the Mexican border.

One woman was horrifically raped in Honduras. At the border, she was suffering severe depression and hyper-vigilance. MPP made everything worse for her.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR Dr. Schneberk highlights the story of "Antonio," who was attacked by machete-wielding paramilitaries in his home country.

He is stuck in Tijuana, where he has no access to mental health-care or medication. He's reverted to soiling the bed at night and has constant nightmares.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR Dr. Schneberk notes how one man is a diagnosed epileptic. Every time he's crossed into the US for his court hearings, CBP has thrown away his medication, making him suffer seizures in Tijuana. His condition is worsening because of CBP sending him back.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR Finally, we move on to the representative of the Asylum Officer's union, Michael Knowles, an Asylum Officer. The Union has been an unprecedented opponent of MPP, publicly speaking out against it. @DLind had the first major piece on this. vox.com/2019/5/2/18522…

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind Knowles highlights the work of the the Asylum Officer's union in filing an amicus brief against MPP at the Ninth Circuit.

Here's information about that. abajournal.com/news/article/u…

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind Knowles then brings up the @ThisAmerLife program. He notes in particular the story's coverage of David Stephens, an Asylum Officer who quit rather than do MPP.

"The Union stands by Mr. Stephens," he says.

https://twitter.com/ThisAmerLife/status/1195695514311888896

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Knowles says "I'm here today to talk about the effect, the very serious effect, on the officers who have to carry out the work [of MPP]."

He says "we categorically deny" allegations that this is just a disagreement over politics, and says the objections "are based in our oath."

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Knowles says Asylum Officers have been threatened with retaliation, with whistleblower allegations, with disciplinary action, and other things for raising harms.

He also suggests that the removal of head of asylum operations John Lafferty was done to get him out of the way.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Finally, Knowles ends by noting his serious concerns with other programs done by the government, including the new Safe Third Country agreement.

"Our officers are dismayed. They ask me to implore this committee to please intervene to put a stop to this injustice."

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Now on to former ICE director Thomas Homan. Notably, Homan left the government in June 2018, months before MPP was created, and ICE has virtually nothing to do with MPP except transport people to and from court.

He's reading a statement off a paper. He sounds bored.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Homan brings up a repeated and incredibly false claims, which was used to justify MPP, saying that people released into the United States just disappear rather than go to their hearings.

I have debunked this time and time again. It's just false.

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1182351415177568259

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Having watched Homan testify several times now, he's down to a routine: asylum seekers are just all fakers, the legitimate ones are helped by MPP, why aren't we talking about all the Border Patrol officers hurt at the border, this is Congress's fault, how dare you question DHS?

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Homan just said "Half the border remains unguarded," which, uh.... is utterly false. I think he meant to say that half the border doesn't have walls, but is he suggesting the Border Patrol doesn't guard places where there aren't walls?

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife We begin with @RepKathleenRice asking Michael Knowles of reports that Asylum Officers are saying they've been overruled by Border Patrol who direct them to make negative decisions.

Knowles says he is aware of the media account, but he doesn't have personal knowledge of it.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Knowles continues, saying that he does not know of a single Asylum Officer who supports MPP. He says that Asylum Officers are "feeling they are complicit in a human rights abuse."

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Knowles says "We've had asylum officers who, in applying very rigorously the very flawed MPP rules, trying to make a positive decision, who were overruled by their supervisors and headquarters monitors" without any legal explanation.

Amazing to hear that testimony.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Knowles says that officers are going to be trained today on the new Safe Third Country agreement with Guatemala. He expresses consternation with that, noting that it would be Guatemala, not the US, forced to determine these claims.

More on that: buzzfeednews.com/article/hameda…

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife For her last question, @RepKathleenRice asks Dr. Schneberk on what the ultimate health consequences will be to children subjected to MPP.

He notes multiple studies on the effects of trauma on kids and says the long-term health consequences will be significant.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Now @RepClayHiggins gets to ask question, asking Homan to "clarify to the American people" that the Mexican gov't provides humanitarian protections.

Homan has no special knowledge about MPP, by the way. He left long before it started. I probably know more about MPP than he does.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Higgins asks Homan: "Do you have personal knowledge of what's been identified as faith-based shelters that are being used?"

I've been to one of those shelters. It was tiny, had no safety wall, limited running water. The people running it were great, but it was inadequate.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Higgins asks @TXCivilRights's Erin Thorn Vela if she is accusing the United States of sending people into horrific conditions, and says she's accusing the shelter-operators of not caring about people in MPP.

He calls her "good lady" and says she has a right to her opinion.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Vela says: "I understand that the government has said that they are providing aid, but from the ground what we see every day, we don't see that aid."

She pushes back on shelters, saying in Matamoros there are no shelters and people are living in tents.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Higgins asks Vela: "Regarding MPP, illegal immigrants, being knowingly returned to Mexico to be tortured, that's quite an accusation. Do you have any proof of that?"

Vela notes there are dozens and dozens of stories of similar conduct.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife Someone told me I may have heard wrong, that Higgins actually called Ms. Thorn Vela "little lady," not "good lady."

He did thank her several times for telling her story, but it really came off that he did not believe her.

@immcouncil @RepKathleenRice @AILANational @RepClayHiggins @BennieGThompson @nspimentel @RepMikeRogersAL @ABAesq @TXCivilRights @P4HR @DLind @ThisAmerLife We move now to @BennieGThompson, who notes that policies we've put in place have "changed the lives of the people who are coming to this country seeking asylum" in a bad way.

Rep. @BennieGThompson says as someone whose ancestors "came to this country as slaves, who were absolutely mistreated, I think I have a sensitivity ... that we don't want our country to be part of anything that mistreats people."

Powerful words from the Chairman!

@BennieGThompson Rep. @BennieGThompson asks @ABAesq's Laura Peña: "Do you think our standards of jurisprudence are being upheld by this Remain in Mexico policy"?

She says: "What Remain in Mexico has done is take a small pebble of law [INA section 235] and create a wrecking ball out of it."

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq Peña continues, criticizing Homan's claim that people are getting hearings more quickly, saying: "What good is a proceeding if it's rendered virtually meaningless?"

She notes the serious lack of counsel, the total limits on access to counsel in general.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq Now on to @RepMikeRogersAL, who asks Ms. Vela if the entire country of Mexico is dangerous for asylum seekers? She says yes, that even in Mexico City, migrants are at heightened risk of harm.

Rogers expresses incredulity, but the State Department itself has noted this is true.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL Rogers says of the tent camps where families are living in utter squalor, with no running water, rampant illnesses due to lack of sanitation, and total unsafety, that they're: "[M]aybe not as healthy as you'd like them to be."

Good grief. What condescension.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL Rogers now on to asking Michael Knowles about whether he has personal knowledge on the things he testified about. He admits he does not. Rogers then immediately moves on to Homan, asking him to list the "loopholes that are driving this train,"

Rogers—clearly not here to learn.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL Just realized there was a break in the thread at one point. Oy. Darn you Twitter. This bit got somehow shunted into another thread.

Meanwhile, Ms. Thorn Vela is testifying that MPP has caused serious delay problems at the ports of entry.

https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1196821266679898115

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL Now @RepTorresSmall asks Knowles: "How has the broader mission and morale of Asylum Officers been affected by MPP"?

Knowles says morale has "plummeted ... because of the way we've been treated" and because they've been totally locked out of the planning process.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall Another good question from @RepTorresSmall, who asks Laura Peña if having access to attorneys would help improve the chances of people being taken out of MPP.

She says yes, and notes a recent decision in an @sdACLU lawsuit case about this. aclusandiego.org/aclu-asylum-se…

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU We move now to Rep. @DebbieLesko, who says "I think all of us care about people being abused, if someone is being raped by cartels, or children are being abused by cartels, of course, none of us would ignore that."

She should talk to Rep. Rogers, who just kinda ignored that.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU @DebbieLesko Rep. @DebbieLesko asks Homan if MPP could be eliminate if Congress got rid of what he calls the "loopholes."

Homan spouts off a bunch of confusing data (some of it wrong, e.g. him again repeating the 87% miss court false claim), and suggests that we need to deter asylum seekers.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU @DebbieLesko Homan says to those thinking the system has been rigged against migrant, noting that the "[asylum] approval rates have not change from FY14-15 to today."

Homan, again, has no clue what he's he talking about. Denial rates have been rising sharply in recent years.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU @DebbieLesko Homan adds: "I want to add one thing. I do think there are some in Central America who qualify for asylum ... I'm not painting with a broad stroke and saying it's all fraud." Then says that 80% are denied, and says that's "troubling for those being sent back."

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU @DebbieLesko Then @RepKathleenRice goes directly into the absentia rates, and she notes, totally accurately, that it is not true that 90% of asylum seekers miss court.

She says "We have to get real numbers."

I agree! I did the work! Here's the numbers! americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immig…

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU @DebbieLesko @RepKathleenRice No joke, I'm going to email @RepKathleenRice's staff after this is over and talk about correcting the record her and help them understand what the reality shows.

If you want more background on why Homan and others get this wrong, check out my op-ed. wsj.com/articles/trump…

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU @DebbieLesko @RepKathleenRice Now we move to @RepLouCorrea, who talks about the absurdity of the government's metering practices. He talks in particular about the weirdness of having someone not actually working for any government help determine who CBP admits to ask for asylum. sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigrati…

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU @DebbieLesko @RepKathleenRice @RepLouCorrea A great question for @RepLouCorrea, who asks Homan about his claim that people need asylum,

Homan claims that families started coming in 2013 because of DACA.

Homan's opinion, by the way, is utterly unsupported by the evidence. Many people have studied this. It's supposition.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU @DebbieLesko @RepKathleenRice @RepLouCorrea Now to @RepMichaelGuest, who goes right to Tom Homan, and once again asks him to give his spiel about how the border has shifted. Homan gives the same tired defenses of family detention under Obama that he's given for years.

@BennieGThompson @ABAesq @RepMikeRogersAL @RepTorresSmall @sdACLU @DebbieLesko @RepKathleenRice @RepLouCorrea @RepMichaelGuest Homan says "this is about saving lives, it's about 31% of women being raped."

The argument for this goes that causing direct harm to families is good, because it prevents a greater harm.

I want them to articulate this. Justify yourself, Homan.

Oh god, some major missteps from Homan about the in absentia rates for family units not appearing in court, saying it goes from 90% in some cities to 40% in others.

Just totally wrong.

.@RepDonaldPayne asks Ms. Thorn Vela about the family who was tortured. "I don't think we can make light of 'just one.' One is too many. And normally if there has been one, there's been more than one. And it opens a can of worms, and the prospect of that becoming a norm."

Yes!

@RepDonaldPayne I have to say, Republicans on this panel have been *remarkably* blase about the extreme harms documented by people on the panel that are occurring to those sent back under MPP, including the repeated violations of CBP policy.

@RepDonaldPayne Now @RepAlGreen highlights a @SavetheChildren report that 13,000 children were sent to Mexico under MPP, including hundreds of infants.

He then mentions "Wet Foot/Dry Foot," noting it allowed thousands of Cubans to get citizenship, and calls for humanity towards children.

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren .@RepAlGreen gets into a little fight with Homan over whether it's a crime to cross the border improperly, or whether it's a civil violation.

The answer is that it's both. Both men are right.

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren Now on to Rep. @JacksonLeeTX18, who asks Laura Peña if the port courts raise major legal concerns.

Peña says yes, noting lack of access to simultaneous interpretation making many unaware of what's happening in the proceedings.

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 Rep. @JacksonLeeTX18 asks Ms. Thorn Vela about the cruel implications of MPP. She notes the thousands of people in squalid refugee camps.

Rep. Lee says MPP creates an "atmosphere of cruelty."

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 Rep. @JacksonLeeTX18 looks at a picture of the Matamoros camp on her phone, and says: "I am looking at a visual of squalor that is likely not even in the places they come from. Have you all seen this?"

Ms. Thorn Vela agrees, saying she's there frequently.

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 Laura Peña now discussing the major problems with notice to appear in MPP, including the use of manufactured charges and fake addresses.

Here's an article on that. theintercept.com/2019/10/04/u-s…

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 Now on to @RepBarragan, who notes the "outrage that should be happening over the return of migrants to dangerous places."

She asks Ms. Thorn Vela to describe the dangers people are subject to in the state of Tamaulipas (designed by the State Dep't as Level 4 danger, the worst).

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepBarragan Responding to @RepBarragan, Ms. Thorn Vela talks about how people are terrified to travel to the border for their court hearings. She talks about people kidnapped right outside Mexican immigration's offices.

I'll do you one worse; INSIDE the office.

https://twitter.com/KennjiKizuka/status/1192907053595009026

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepBarragan Now @RepBarragan tears into former DHS secretary McAleenan, saying it's clear that DHS did not consider the severe harms in sending people back to Tamaulipas, which she says is like being sent back to Syria.

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepBarragan Powerful moment as Laura Peña chokes up when talking about the awful feeling when CBP threatens to send your client back to Mexico even when they've won their case in MPP.

We know at least a few people have had this happen!

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepBarragan Next on to @RepEscobar, who has been a powerful voice against MPP from the beginning. She thanks members of Congress for going to the border to help understand what's happening, and to commit to ending an "abhorrent policy." She thanks the witnesses for their testimony as well.

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepBarragan @RepEscobar @RepEscobar: "Our lawyers, our advocates, our community members, have unfortunately had to bear witness to what is happening ... What we have seen happen, I've described as a new ecosystem of criminal activity created by this new policy on the other side of the ports of entry."

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepBarragan @RepEscobar @RepEscobar talks about how the highest DHS officials "essentially deny—tell Congress that none of this is happening."

She asks Michael Knowles if there's any way that DHS leadership would not know about the atrocities of MPP.

"I can't imagine they would not know," he says.

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepBarragan @RepEscobar Both Ms. Thorn Vela and Ms. Peña say that they have repeatedly raised concerns to DHS officials, and all agree that it's almost certain that DHS officials at the highest levels are aware of how bad the situation created by MPP is.

@RepEscobar is right. DHS leadership knows.

@RepDonaldPayne @RepAlGreen @SavetheChildren @JacksonLeeTX18 @RepBarragan @RepEscobar @RepAlGreen gives a little speech to conclude, which I tried to get down as best I could. It's great:

"Madame Chair, Mr. Homan has brought us to the heart of the problem. This administration concludes that asylum seekers are criminals. They are not criminals. ...

... It is not a crime to seek asylum in the United States of America. And when you treat them as criminals, somehow you conclude it's okay to lock their children up in cages."

@RepAlGreen is right. It's the criminalization of asylum seekers that lead to this.

@RepAlGreen At the end of the hearing, @RepClayHiggins turns to the State Department's Level 4 Travel Warning for Tamaulipas.

He then lists cities in the US "which are more likely to be subject to violent crime than Mexico City"—which is not in Tamaulipas! It's hundreds of miles away. OMG.

@RepAlGreen @RepClayHiggins With that, the hearing is over. Thanks for all who've followed, and thanks to the witnesses who got up in front of Congress to testify about this awful policy.

If you're confused about the legal aspects of MPP, @immcouncil has a fact sheet for you coming out ASAP! Stay tuned!