In a Tijuana shelter, I spoke with five Central American asylum-seeking mothers who U.S. immigration officers had expelled to Mexico under Title 42 with their young children within the past two weeks. Their stories are heartbreaking. @humanrights1st 1/6
All had crossed from Reynosa into Texas. All had been transferred by bus and plane to Tijuana after spending several days in freezing cold holding cells. Some tried to ask for asylum. “We were getting death threats in Guatemala. We tried to tell them but they wouldn’t listen.”2/6
None knew they were being expelled to Mexico until they were dumped at the Otay Mesa port of entry. Some reported that U.S. officers outright lied to them and said they were bringing them to their U.S. family members. “When I realized I was in Mexico, I just cried and cried.” 3/6
All reported that their children became ill. A Honduran mother said her 2-year-old daughter was vomiting in the van as they were being transferred. U.S. agents ignored her pleas for help. Two parents told me their children had fevers after being detained and were still sick. 4/6
All were expelled in the middle of the night, between midnight and 2am. All reported that U.S. agents did not return their belongings. “They took my backpack, everything. They left us with just the clothes on my back. My daughter was so hungry because they took all our food.”5/6
Most were brought to this shelter by Mexican police after being left at the border with no money and no instructions. A woman fleeing death threats in Honduras said, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t have any money and I don’t know where I can go.” 6/6
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