Taylor Levy Profile picture
immigration attorney doing lots of pro bono work for asylum-seekers El Paso/Juarez. appreciate $ support: @taylorklevy & taylorlevylaw@gmail.com
Feb 2, 2021 11 tweets 6 min read
"Family Separation" was horrific. But have you heard about "Remain in Mexico"? Also known as the "Migrant Protection Protocols," #MPP does the exact opposite from "protecting" migrants. #MPP is cruel & inhumane, & its victims need remedies TODAY, not a task force. A thread: 1/ #MPP started on Jan 29, 2019. Under MPP, immigrants coming to the border requesting protection from violence ("asylum-seekers") are fingerprinted/photographed by Border Patrol & then sent to Mexico with a piece of paper telling them to come back on a certain date for court. 2/
Mar 19, 2020 8 tweets 3 min read
Apart from the utter cruelty, #MPP hearings continuing is illogical FROM A CONSERVATIVE POINT OF VIEW. It means forcing ppl living in unsanitary conditions to enter US *repeatedly*-CBP agents, ICE lawyers & contractors, & court Judges/staff all risk exposure to #coronavirus 1/ No social distancing in a CBP holding cell. Small cells of cinderblock & metal. The cold temperatures *may* reduce contagion (CBP justification) BUT they also weaken asylum-seekers immune systems & make them more susceptible to the virus, making them better vectors. Exposed. 2/
Mar 16, 2020 11 tweets 7 min read
#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
Jul 15, 2019 9 tweets 2 min read
Thread. What is missing from the dialogue about the "Remain in Mexico" program, officially known as the ridiculous, Orwellian, "Migrant Protection Protocols," is ways it becomes nearly-impossible to give appropriate legal advice to asylum-seekers who are *terrified* because /1 they are at an imminent risk of danger & violence. I have been working with asylum-seekers for a decade, & am well-versed at coping with traumatized individuals telling me the horrific, intimate details of the reasons why they fled their home countries to seek asylum: /2