New York, NY, December 3, 2019 — Recent reports that the so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP) are to be expanded to the Tucson, Arizona sector—where the IRC has been working for over 20 years—will result in virtually the entire U.S.-Mexico border subject to this harmful policy. MPP, also known as “Remain in Mexico,” is a Trump administration policy requiring many asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims for protection in the United States are pending.
Since its implementation in January 2019, an estimated 55,000 asylum seekers primarily from Central America, have been refused entry to the United States and instead forced to wait in shelters and tent camps in Mexico, often in harsh, overcrowded and dangerous conditions. Asylum seekers waiting in Mexico have been subject to kidnappings, violence and sexual assault. The IRC has expressed strong opposition to Remain in Mexico and has continued to call on the administration to immediately rescind this harmful policy.
Until now, individuals seeking asylum in the Tucson sector—over 200 miles of the Arizona borderlands, of which Nogales is the most significant port of entry—have been spared from Remain in Mexico. This area of the borderland remained one of the only regions of the entire border untouched by the administration’s policy, holding out a modicum of hope for people in search of protection.
The administration’s latest policy move ignores Arizona’s long history of welcoming and supporting asylum seekers at the community level. The IRC, along with many other organizations, including the Kino Border Initiative, the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights; faith groups; and grassroots efforts remain ready and willing to welcome families. The IRC in Tucson and Phoenix provides long-term case management for asylum seeking families who remain in the city. In Phoenix, the IRC, in coalition with several community partners, opened the Phoenix Welcome Center in July, which has served nearly 900 parents and children—an increasing percentage of whom have crossed via the Tucson sector. At the Welcome Center, asylum seekers are given new clothes, a hot meal, access to medical care, travel coordination for their intended destinations, and a crucial legal orientation.
Under the Tucson sector MPP extension, instead of allowing asylum seekers to be welcomed in an area with a sophisticated network of support ready to assist, the administration is re-routing vulnerable people to a borderland where they will be forced back to harm with minimal humanitarian assistance. People seeking protection will now be bussed over 300 miles east, with one official rationale being that there is an immigration court in El Paso, Texas while there is none in Nogales, Arizona. (In reality, both the Tucson and Phoenix immigration courts are within a radius that is less than half the distance of the drive from Nogales to El Paso).
As the Trump administration continues to curtail protections for those seeking refuge and safety, the IRC calls on Congress to provide concrete solutions to reverse these harmful policy decisions. We urge Members of Congress to co-sponsor all pro-refugee legislation that would restore America’s legacy of welcome, including the Refugee Protection Act, which would expand and strengthen asylum protections for those in need of safety at our border.
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