It’s been 40 days since one of the U.S. immigration policies, known as Title 42, came to an end, which was implemented by two administrations. Under this statute, the principle of No Return was denied to about 2.8 million people, who were expelled before they have the possibility – or, rather, the right – to apply for asylum in the country, according to data from WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America). With the end of Title 42, Title 8 was reinstated, an immigration policy that could at its discretion reject the application for international protection, even resulting in a veto for a few years.
During the days prior to the end of Title 42, from the border of Ciudad Juárez, adjacent El Paso, Texas, a significant number of people lined up in front of Gate 42 of the border wall. Local media counted about five hundred people, between family nuclei and people traveling alone. A few months ago, the flow of people through the area center of the town was notorious. Through the offer of food and haircuts, the cultural exchange occurred by itself in the dynamics of the day today. Today, everything is different, with the overwhelming silence of a population that floats in ambiguous responses, given by at least three countries.
We observe, at the same time, the role played by (dis)information on the part of governments from Mexico and the United States. Days prior to May 12, rumors of reception through said door, came, in large part, from the behavior that US authorities had in two ways: on the one hand, the governor of Texas, Gregg Abbot, indicated the deployment of ten thousand elements of the Texas National Guard along the southern border of the country. On the other hand, immigration agents allowed the entry of people, little by little, who presented themselves in the open access of the wall (door 40 and 42), without an appointment scheduled in the application CBPOne. The confusion, the lack of clarity, led many people who need protection to turn themselves in without having all the information about their process or certainty of their destination upon entering said country.
According to data provided by the Department of Homeland Security of United States (DHS), from May 12 to June 2, 38,400 people were repatriated under Title 8 regulations. In Mexico, on the other hand, there is still no clarity of the process under the Joint Humanitarian Plan on Migration (agreement made between Mexico and the United States), who are returning people. Some of the testimonies, collected in media notes by media, organizations and the people themselves on the move, indicate that the staff of the National Institute of Migration has returned the population to towns in the south of the country, in Chiapas, Tabasco and Zacatecas.
These testimonies alert us, since they are transferred to the south of the country, once again making it difficult for the population to transit through Mexico, exposing them to serious violations of their human rights, such as kidnapping and extortion by various actors and immigration authorities of the Mexican State. They have abandoned the population to their fate, on the highway, public roads, supermarkets and, basically, anywhere unsuitable for housing people. Without information, without resources or advice, people choose to seek their own shelter. In Ciudad Juárez, the population has resorted to sheltering in buildings or abandoned houses, given the uncertainty generated by reception spaces of the State.
Recently, without much explanation or planning, a new camp for people on the move previously settled in front of the Municipal Presidency building. Said space arose, according to the municipality itself and the National Institute of Migration by joint efforts. However, after requesting information from each of the institutions there is no clarity about the management and resources of said space. The conditions, needless to say, continue violating the rights of girls, boys, adolescents and the adult population. To date, the difficulty continues to access showers, drinking water and private spaces. After a hasty start and after denying entry to organizations and agencies that offer services, the municipality allowed the access to humanitarian personnel, solely to offer information, but not services, since it is considered that if they do people will want to remain more time in space, prolonging the need for the camp to refugee people.
Although the migratory flow that was expected after the end of Title 42 was lower, this was because of the omission of duty by Mexican authorities to guarantee dignified access to basic housing and health services as well as the right to information about their own process. At the same time, those who were the public servants, holders in charge of ensuring their safety, in the Ministry of Relations Foreign Affairs and the Interior have left their positions in search of the candidacy of their own party. Uneasily, the entire planet continues in an eternal walk, in search of utopia: live with dignity.
Diana Solis Labrado
Integral Human Rights in Action, AC.
Advocacy, analysis and research
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