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Asylum seekers recently filed a class action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, challenging the Migrant Protection Protocols border policy when it comes to disabled migrants.
According to Time magazine, numerous men, women and children with disabilities and their family members act as plaintiffs in the recent class action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customers and Border Protection (CBP) and their officials. The plaintiffs claim these authorities wrongfully returned disabled asylum seekers to Mexico despite official exemptions for these individuals.
“This is far from accidental,” the Migrant Protection Protocols class action lawsuit contends. “Instead, the brutal practice of ignoring this policy, refusing disability accommodations, and sending people with disabilities to survive in makeshift refugee camps and shelters in Mexico is widespread.”
The Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols program, referred to as the “Remain In Mexico” policy, was implemented in January 2019 though it has since faced several legal challenges. Under the program, asylum seekers are required to remain in Mexico while waiting for immigration proceedings.
Due to the hazards posed to disabled individuals by this program, the DHS reportedly implemented a physical and mental health exclusion that exempts asylum seekers with “[k]nown physical/mental health issues” from the Migrant Protection Protocols program.
Instead of complying with these guidelines, the DHS and CBP allegedly send disabled asylum seekers to dangerous parts of Mexico, sometimes “completely without warning.” Some of the areas these people have been sent have allegedly been given the highest travel warning by the U.S. State Department due to rampant murder, robberies, kidnapping, sexual assaults and other violent crimes.
Even worse, some of these areas allegedly have local law enforcement incapable of protecting innocent people.
The plaintiffs say these practices have caused significant harm to themselves and other disabled asylum seekers. In addition to putting them at risk for persecution, torture and human trafficking in Mexico, these actions allegedly make it impossible for the plaintiffs and others to meaningfully participate for their removal proceedings.
“For example, Plaintiffs are forced to divert their time, energy, and resources to attempt to obtain — sometimes unsuccessfully — basic medical equipment and care, making it virtually impossible for them to meaningfully assert defenses to removal or otherwise prepare for removal proceedings,” the Remain In Mexico policy class action lawsuit explains.
Several of the plaintiffs say they have experienced these and other problems.
One plaintiff, named as E.A.R.R., says she has a qualified disability due to a pituitary tumor that presses on her brain. Despite this eligible health problem, she and her two children have allegedly been forced to remain in Mexico.
Another plaintiff, named as G.S.E.R., is reportedly 13 years old but has only one functioning lung. Similarly to E.A.R.R., G.S.E.R. has allegedly been forced to remain in Mexico since May 2019.
The list of plaintiffs continues. Plaintiffs reportedly suffer from serious disabilities including heart problems, diabetes, post-traumatic stress disorder, kidney issues, spinal problems and other conditions that require medical attention. But these plaintiffs and their family members have reportedly been forced to remain in Mexico under the DHS policy — despite qualifying for the Migrant Protection Protocols program exemption.
The asylum seekers claim the government’s actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Rehabilitation Act.
In their class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek to represent several Classes of asylum seekers placed in the Migrant Protection Protocols program who have known physical or mental health disabilities covered under the program’s exclusion. They also seek to represent a Class of individuals who have been denied meaningful participation in removal proceedings due to these actions. Finally, the plaintiffs seek to represent a family member Class.
On behalf of themselves and the proposed Classes, the plaintiffs seek an order restraining the government from continuing with their allegedly unlawful actions; they also seek other injunctive relief, court costs and attorneys’ fees.
Despite these and other complaints, officials have praised the Remain in Mexico policy.
In fact, according to Fox40, defendant CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan reportedly said the “MPP was the driving factor that drove the end of catch-and-release and through these network of initiatives and policies and tools we’ve been able to regain the integrity back into the immigration system.”
What do you think about the government’s “Remain In Mexico” policy? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
The asylum seekers and proposed Classes are represented by Robert S. Shwarts and Lillian J. Mao of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP along with Timothy P. Fox and Maria del Pilar Gonzalez Morales of the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center.
The Remain in Mexico Policy Class Action Lawsuit is E.A.R.R., et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-02146-TWR-BGS, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
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