Immigrant rights’ advocates are taking legal action against the Trump administration over claims it denies migrant children their constitutionally given rights.
The complaint, filed Thursday in California District Court, follows a 103-page report published Jan. 6 from Human Rights Watch detailing the violent reality asylum seekers face under the federal government’s current “Migrant Protection Protocols.”
The Trump administration currently does not face a class action lawsuit related to this issue, however, Top Class Actions tracks group cases of human rights’ violations because they sometimes end in class action lawsuits.
The policy, enacted by President Trump in 2019, requires asylum seekers to await their hearing in Mexico instead of in the U.S.
Parents and their children interviewed for the Human Rights Watch study report being victims of murder, sexual assaults, robbery, extortion and other crimes soon after being deported and while waiting in makeshift camps that formed after the rule was adopted.
Even worse, according to the study, some of these victims claim Mexican police and immigration officials were the ones committing these crimes.
Human Rights First has tracked more than 1,300 cases of violence, including murder, rape, kidnapping and torture of migrants returned from the U.S. to Mexico since it began.
The firms representing the migrant families argue the so-called “remain in Mexico” policy has forced families to wait in dangerous and dirty camps while their asylum claims are heard, violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, according to CBS News.
Two organizations are spearheading the fight, the Immigrant Defenders Law Center and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), representing 701 minors who’ve been in federal protective custody since being detained, according to CBS News.
They are both specifically pointing to the plight of migrant children in the lawsuit, who are sometimes sent by their parents to the border alone just to get away from the danger they’re facing waiting in Mexico.
RAICES and Immigrant Defenders say U.S. law requires these unaccompanied minors to be protected.
“The heart of the lawsuit is simple: Unaccompanied migrant children are entitled by statute and by the Constitution to due process, an opportunity to seek asylum, and compassion from this country,” Esther Sung, senior counsel with the Justice Action Center told the San Antonio Current.
White House officials have defended the “remain in Mexico” policy, saying it is needed to verify asylum claim authenticity.
These deportations increased during the COVID-19 outbreak but were stopped by a federal judge in November after a class action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union challenged its legality.
“‘Remain in Mexico’ has needlessly and foreseeably exposed children and adults to a high risk of violence and other harm,” Michael Garcia Bochenek, author of the Human Rights Watch report, said. “Repairing this damage will take time, but the Biden administration should immediately begin to allow people in the program to return to the United States while their asylum cases are pending.”
What do you think of the current president’s “remain in Mexico” policy? Do you agree with the plaintiffs asylum seekers are entitled to wait in the U.S. while their case is heard? Let us know why or why not in the comments below.
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4 thoughts onTrump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy Faces New Lawsuit
I totally agree! Im a Mexican American living freely in the United states because I was born here and my parents and grandparents did what was needed to do in order for us to become US citizens. It took time but they fought for their freedom to be here. It’s in our constitution for immigrants to go through the process to obtain a legal Visa so what’s the big issue now? It’s all the president’s who illegally went against our constitution and allowed them to come make residency here illegally that should be prosecuted! Im baffled and disgusted with a lot of our leaders in office, they should be ashamed of themselves! This whole system is corrupt and should be brought to justice, in my opinion.
Parents and their children interviewed for the Human Rights Watch study report being victims of murder, sexual assaults, robbery, extortion and other crimes soon after being deported and while waiting in makeshift camps that formed after the rule was adopted.
These are the same conditions and most likely the same location they stayed at BEFORE trying to enter the US. There is no reason this case should be allowed to progress. If anything they should be denied asylum and all of them deported. There is no way to prove what they say is true or not. People who get approved will get on their cell phones and call others who are trying to get asylum and explain how they convinced the interviewer and what they to should do. This whole immigration and asylum system is an assult to all legal American citizens.
The children are coming into the US, to be trafficked.
They arrive with adults claiming to be the child’s parents who are not.
The Border wall needs to be completed to stop this heinous practice.
Right. Americans who oppose Bidens liberal agenda MUST make their voices heard. We must be louder than the liberals.