Thread by @CGRShastings

Our Legal Director @BlaineBookey joins @PriyaMorley (@nyulaw), @GuerlineMJozef @BuddhistLawyer (@HaitianBridge), and @goss_molly (@IMUMIDF) for a briefing on our new report documenting the experiences of Haitian women migrants in Mexico.
bit.ly/TapachulaReport

.@goss_molly (@IMUMIDF) explains that Haitian asylum applications are granted at very low rates in Mexico, where Haitian women face both anti-Black racism and gender discrimination.

.@GuerlineMJozef (@HaitianBridge): Many Haitians initially fled to Brazil or Chile, but then were forced – due to anti-Black discrimination and increasingly restrictive immigration policies – to seek safety elsewhere.

.@GuerlineMJozef (@HaitianBridge): Restrictive U.S. immigration policies have externalized the southern border and enforcement - not just to Mexico, but as far south as Panama.

.@BuddhistLawyer (@HaitianBridge): Haitian women traveling through the Americas face layers of trauma, making them the most vulnerable migrant population in Mexico. They experience marginalization as migrants, as Black migrants, and as women migrants.

.@BuddhistLawyer (@HaitianBridge): 99% of Venezuelans receive asylum or complementary protection in Mexico. Haitians receive just 20%, despite fleeing equally dire human rights conditions in their country of origin. This is rooted in anti-Black racism. #ImmigrationIsABlackIssue

.@BuddhistLawyer quotes interviewee Fabiola, "It’s like the blood that runs through their veins is not the same as the blood in our veins. They look at you like you are nothing because you are Black. You have a profession, being ignored completely." #ImmigrationIsABlackIssue

.@BlaineBookey: Trump has stranded migrants in perilous conditions, used the pandemic as a pretext to close our border, and attempted to rewrite our laws to foreclose the kinds of asylum claims Haitians present. Despite this, Haitians continue to seek refuge in the U.S.

.@BlaineBookey: The Biden administration needs to undo these policies and create a more humane, non-adversarial asylum process. We also need to address the root causes of migration through humanitarian aid - ensuring support for community-based groups, not corrupt governments.