Thread by @taylorklevy

#MPP thread. 3:55am & I’m at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, at the time asylum-seekers are supposed to show up at the bridge for their court dates. It’s still pitch black outside of course, & still no word from @DOJ_EOIR if #MPP courts going forward

4:40am. Seems like asylum-seekers have been processed as usual for their #MPP hearings. We have been trying to give advice to people before they cross about the possibility of judges calling in sick, etc. It’s been awful to watch their faces fall with the news. #ParoleThemAll

5:41am. Talked to many #MPP asylum-seekers b4 they present themselves for court & none have been returned. #MPP hearings are apparently considered “detained” by @DOJ_EOIR. Everyone request bond hearings—if “detained” it is their right! Still unclear if IJs etc call-in sick today

6:43am. Bridge seems to still be continuing with business as usual? Other than the line seems perhaps longer & slower than usual and some press has shown up for unknown reasons; seem to be taking pics of long car lines? Pedestrian line seems normal length for this hour

7:12am. Someone from the Chihauhua State Secretaria de Salud [Health Department] recently arrived and is handing out these sensible #COVID19 fliers to everyone crossing, including an indigenous Guatemalan woman about to enter the freezing CBP cells (hieleras) w her small baby.

7:37am (8:37am CST). Immigration attorney colleague currently physically in San Antonio courthouse reporting that #MPP hearings in Laredo tent courts (which are heard by San Antonio judges via video) appear to be proceeding as usual.

9:40am. Still at bridge. Talked to a young couple with a baby who were deported yesterday under HARP with none of their belongings after 8 days in CBP custody. My colleagues in El Paso court say that one judge called in sick to work & one judge is appearing (per usual) via video.

Ok, 6 hours of port monitoring & I’m done. Heading to 2 of the shelters to give them updates; my fearless compa from @cliniclegal is tackling 2 more. The #MigrantPersecutionProtocols are a disgrace; #RestoreAsylumNow & #ParoleThemAll!

4:10pm. #MPP courts still open. Spent the last several hours in one shelter explaining that #coronavirus may close the courts. Devastation: their faces fall; they shake; they cry. They’re scared of getting sick but they’re even more terrified of being forced to stay in Mexico

“But abogada, I’ve waited so long already!” “When will we know if the courts close?” “When will the courts open again?” “Can we go with our families in the US” “Look at how we’re living, we’re going to get sick here, 22 people in one room, living on top of one another”

Standing water. Mud. Broken fixtures. Stray dogs, bloody mange & fleas. broken bathroom fixtures. Asylum-seekers telling me story after story of being denied medical care in Mexican hospitals, & being treated worse than animals in CBP holding. “How will I keep my child safe?”