On June 12, Gerardo, a 41-year-old indigenous bricklayer from Guatemala, appeare...
- On June 12, Gerardo, a 41-year-old indigenous bricklayer from Guatemala, appeared before a U.S. immigration judge in El Paso, Texas. Since crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally two months earlier with his 14-year-old son, he had been separated from the boy and forced to wait in Mexico for his hearing.After they crossed into the United States, a border patrol agent declared the boy’s photocopied birth certificate to be fake, casting doubt on their father-son relationship.
Started in January, the policy known as “Migrant Protection Protocols” requires some migrants to wait in Mexico for their immigration cases to be processed, while others – based largely on border authorities’ discretion – are allowed to wait in the United States. Under MPP, about 18,500 migrants have been returned to Mexico, Mexican officials say.
This year, under MPP, border officials in some locations have been given the option to send such adults to Mexico rather than detain or release them in the United States pending their court hearings. The separated children are sent to U.S.-based children’s shelters. Meanwhile, younger children may not know the details of their asylum case or even the location of family members who might help or sponsor them in the United States.
Advocates say the United States does not appear to keep records on family separations under MPP. Cases usually come to light only when migrants come to court, often weeks after the separations occur. Most migrants sent back to Mexico have not yet had hearings. Referring to Gerardo’s case, “It’s just so shocking how easily they separated him and sent him across the border,” Chavla said. “You’d think they’d do a little due diligence before that.”
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