TW

In 2018, I had an abortion following a sexual assault by a former intimate partner who had shifted into the role of abuser. I understood well then that if I gave birth, that the man who raped me would be a constant presence in my future. I did not want that life for myself. There is the mistaken belief that the US is a safe country for women because it is a "modernized Western democracy." But the reality is 1000s of women and girls are raped each year by intimate partners and other family members.

Thanks to @POTUS, today is about helping an asylum seeker evaluate if she & her baby qualify as "high risk" if the child has lung problems that might improve if they weren't living in a tent next to a landfill, cooking over a fire, but may lead to death if they stay the winter. But why would they stay the winter? Why not return back home, where her husband was kidnapped by organized crime, beaten, & recaptured after he briefly escaped, where they were also looking for her, believing she helped him & knew the location of the other kidnapped husbands.

Hi @CBPSanDiegoI am a bit confused why your officers at the SY POE are telling this elderly scooter-bound man there’s no “handicapped” lane & he’s gotta wait at the back of the line. Has no one talked about the Americans w/Disabilities Act or Rehabilitation Act w/ y’all? Actually I’ve been here since 7:45am and this is the third elderly person with a disability who came to the front of the line requesting an accommodation which you summarily denied without individualized consideration.

Border Pro Tip for @POTUS & @DHSgov Sec @AliMayorkas: When you give asylum seekers ZERO info about changes to the legal process you create an information vacuum for organized crime to fill. Case in point: all them work visa scams going on in Tijuana. People think they are buying a legitimate work visa by people who falsely present themselves to be lawyers. Recently quoted price is $400 per family member-- and all family members, including the babies are "required" to apply. Don't worry, they take payments.

Dear @POTUS & @DHSgov Sec. @AliMayorkas: I know I sound like a broken record, but thought you should know @CBP did the thing again-- expelled a US citizen infant to Mexico w/out their birth certificate, making that baby undocumented in 1 of the most violent cities in the world. This recent case makes 12 babies identified by @AlOtroLado_Org in collaboration w/our partners @HaitianBridge & @humanrights1st---a number which excludes the other undocumented babies identified by other border orgs & God knows how many who were never identified at all.

Friday night work with asylum seekers shouldn't involve fielding calls from the recently kidnapped but now escaped, using the borrowed phone of a stranger for help finding the path to a safer place. But today it does involve just that thanks to @CBP & @DHSgov The government knew their bullshit asylum seeker waitlist, now over 8000 migrants long in Tijuana alone, & their even more bullshit Migrant Persecution Protocols would kill people. But they did it anyway. Because they want people to die, or at minimum, to warn others not to come.

Fuck your fucking apology. Not accepted. Also fuck @DHSgov, @CBP, & @ICEgov for separating families in a multitude of ways both BEFORE & AFTER the rollout and rollback of the Zero Tolerance "policy." nbcnews.com/politics/immig… ANY TIME @DHSgov forcibly separate families, you are creating a lifelong trauma, a generation of victims of state violence. And it doesn’t matter if that kid was separated from their dad at the border, or whether ICE kidnapped that dad in front of his children at their home.

It'd be cool if @CBP could explain why it keeps returning US citizen infants to Mexican border cities w/out any documentation of their US citizenship, leaving these infants STATELESS, & maybe explain how this is a necessary pandemic public health measure. Make it make sense, Just received another report of a 2nd Haitian family returned to MX under bullshit ass Title 42, after mom gave birth in San Diego. @CBP is sending US citizen infants back to MX w/no birth certificate & no safety net. Some baby is going to die & the blood will be on their hands

Want to teach migrants about their rights in this trash system while dragging DHS to a cage fight match in federal court 2-3 times a yr? Do you wake up most mornings wanting to #BurnItAllDown? @AlOtroLado_Org's Border Rights Project seeks a staff attorney. ideali.st/jzsQEk This job is not for everyone. Nothing about it is basic. But is important because the right to freedom, to be free of persecution, is one that belongs to all of us. Yet it is also a right that is under attack at the US-Mexico border.

Shortly before leaving the Federal Public Defender Office, a federal judge I practiced before was arrested for domestic violence at the Ritz Carlton. In the audio of the 911 call you could hear him drunkenly slapping his wife and her crying for help. 1/7 reuters.com/investigates/s… It took almost 1 year for this judge to step down. After his arrest a former client called me from prison indignant, after being sentenced by this same judge to serve 2 years in federal prison for beating his girlfriend, in violation of the conditions of his probation. 2/7

Black migrants fight for their lives through the Darien Gap & yet must still live in fear of the cops once they're arrived to the "land of the free." Time to lift up orgs supporting Black migrants @ the border, in detention & beyond. Donate now to @AlemAfricanDrm & @HaitianBridge Also, time to Ubereats a fuck ton of cupcakes & wine to the always inspiring always fierce leaders of these 2 orgs, 2 woman I'm proud to call colleagues & friends: @EsqRebecca & @GuerlineMJozef. They're too busy caring for others to do self-care. Time for us to care for them.

Want to fight fascism one case at a time in the midst of a global pandemic? Are you an immigration attorney, DOJ Accredited Rep, or immigration law prof? Well look no further. This opportunity to stoke your seemingly endless DHS induced-rage is brought to you by @AlOtroLado_Org. Things you can do to help protect the rights of asylum seekers from the safety of your home. Help prepare:

1. I589s
2. declarations
3. motions to reopen for individuals prevented from attending their hearings by the spineless schmucks at CBP
4. Review intakes
5. Pro se prep

Today @CBPSanDiego once again prevented asylum seekers from attending immigration proceedings in San Diego despite them presenting documents showing they had court. @DHSgov's illegal "Remain in Mexico" policy denies not only access to counsel, but also access to the court itself. @CBPSanDiego @DHSgov And even assuming that @CBPSanDiego officers did not "believe" that these particular asylum seekers had court, or did not "believe" that they were "real asylum seekers," the US government has amazing technology & could have looked up their files and photos in their own system.

So grateful tonight for our dedicated Al Otro Lado team in Tijuana. We may not have a fancy office. but it is not about the space, but rather the heart that people bring to it. Every week I am shocked by the number of volunteers who continue to show up, despite the fact that... every day here is a lesson in the myriad of ways that the heart can break. But this place is also a lesson of resilience, where the people show us that it is still possible to pass through one thousand heartbreaks and for the human spirit to survive and persist...

@DHSgov is corrupt to its core. Under the Migrant Persecution Protocols, asylum seekers must wait in dangerous border cities in Mexico for their day in court. Yet even when they WIN ASYLUM DHS returns them to Mexico so the agency can appeal the decision of the immigration judge. @DHSgov So let me get this straight- @DHSgov created an illegal program that destroys protections for families fleeing persecution. They said one of the goals was to protect migrants against human trafficking. Yet all evidence to the contrary shows that human trafficking is on the rise.

If you are an immigration attorney who is DISTURBED that asylum seekers are being returned to Mexico to DIE & that the immigration courts are standing by watching due process being incinerated daily in their courtroom like we're running a crematorium, message me. If you ever thought-- gee I wonder what I would've done during the time of the Nazis. Would I have just watched as people were shipped off to die? Look at what you are doing at this moment, and that is your answer.

Asking for a friend. Why did @CBPSanDiego handcuff 2 unaccompanied kids when they tried to present themselves to seek asylum? Well the officers that did it said it was for "officer safety." They couldn't be sure if the boys had weapons. I think it was because the kids were Black. In recent weeks we have seen more African kids fleeing unspeakable violence,and traveling a journey most adults could not survive, walking through jungles, drinking from rivers, seeing friends die & stepping over dead bodies in the path to through Latin America the border.

Kinda wondering if federal defenders everywhere are laughing @ the idea FBI is investigating plot 2 purchase guns in MX 4 a border revolution. I was always taught drugs move north & guns move south b/c gun sales are highly regulated here. bit.ly/2XU7dny Is this even a real investigation? Or one meant to distract from the government's illegal surveillance of activists? Given how easy it is to buy guns in the US, no one w/any sense would try to buy an arsenal in MX. Guns are so regulated the NRA would just about lose their minds.

One question. Well a couple of questions, really. Do Mexican-American nationalists who both love Mexico and Trump hate us because we are informing all migrants of their legal rights in the system? OR....... Are they also angry that the largest group of asylum seekers with whom we work are MX asylum seekers fleeing regions besieged by violence? Because that would be kind of a self-hating thing to do, hating on the people who helps fellow MX citizens find safety.

When the wingnuts on the internet find you--- well you're obviously doing something right. But they have a lot of questions, lots of conspiracies in mind. However because the internet is interactive, I thought I'd start this thread. It's like Dear Abby for suspicious minds. # 1 I don't know George Soros. I've heard a lot about him in the news of the last year. Apparently he's funding me. While that would be helpful, its not in the cards for the moment. But please pass on my Twitter to him if he would like to support.
#CallMePleaseGeorge