WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.800 --> 00:00:10.240 From Fudromidia and RX. It's Latino Usa. I'm Mariano Hsa 2 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:17.760 today part one of our series The Moving Border. Welcome 3 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:22.000 to Latino USA. I'm Maria no Josa and dear listener. 4 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:25.919 This week we bring you something special. It's Part one 5 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:30.000 of The Moving Border. It's a deeply on the ground 6 00:00:30.040 --> 00:00:34.279 reported story that looks at asylum in the country and 7 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:38.879 the somewhat secretive partnership between Mexico and the US that 8 00:00:39.040 --> 00:00:43.720 prevented immigrants from crossing the border. Our award winning series 9 00:00:43.800 --> 00:00:47.400 originally aired in May of twenty twenty, when border policies 10 00:00:47.440 --> 00:00:50.800 were being made under the Trump administration. So with the 11 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:55.040 elections rapidly approaching and with immigration being a top issue 12 00:00:55.080 --> 00:00:58.280 for voters, we thought the time was right to bring 13 00:00:58.360 --> 00:01:01.840 this content back to you. So here now is the 14 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:06.680 first part of The Moving Border. It all began with 15 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:11.360 a four letter word wall. I would build a great wall, 16 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:12.840 and nobody builds walls better than me. 17 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:13.399 Believe me. 18 00:01:13.600 --> 00:01:17.039 I will build a great, great wall on. 19 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:20.039 Our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for 20 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:20.639 that wall. 21 00:01:21.080 --> 00:01:21.920 Mark my works. 22 00:01:22.440 --> 00:01:25.840 As Donald Trump's campaign for president heated up four years ago, 23 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:31.440 it was the word that launched a thousand rallies because 24 00:01:31.440 --> 00:01:33.119 I've been hearing a lot of things. Oh, the wall 25 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:34.920 didn't make that much of a difference. You know where 26 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:37.640 it made a big difference, right here in El Paso. 27 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:40.360 We're going to build the wall. We have no choice, 28 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:41.560 we have no choice. 29 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:47.000 Build that wall, Build that wall, Build that wall, Build 30 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:47.720 that wall. 31 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:51.320 Build now. Most immigration experts would tell you it was 32 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:54.280 a fantasy. It was too expensive, not to mention that 33 00:01:54.320 --> 00:01:57.280 it wouldn't solve the problem of people crossing the border 34 00:01:57.320 --> 00:02:00.600 without papers, let alone do anything to address the growing 35 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:04.640 number of asylum seekers legally asking for refuge at ports 36 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:08.760 of entry. But there was a simplicity to it, a 37 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:13.880 catchiness build the wall. It reduced a complicated issue to 38 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:17.200 a small idea, and it very well may have catapulted 39 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:25.200 a reality television star into the nation's highest office. The phrase, 40 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:28.560 of course, wasn't just build the wall, it was also 41 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:33.280 make Mexico pay for it now. In Mexico, this was 42 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.880 widely ridiculed. It was a material of jokes and can 43 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:47.880 you believe this guy? Dinner conversations jevasclationsro shortly after Trump's 44 00:02:47.880 --> 00:02:52.200 inauguration in twenty seventeen. Then President Enrique Bagnaneto went on 45 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.639 TV to make Mexico's position clear. 46 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:02.079 Mexico nokrelos mos levicho una yotra Mexico not. 47 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:07.960 Mexico doesn't believe in walls. He said, I've said it 48 00:03:08.040 --> 00:03:12.480 again and again. Mexico isn't going to pay for any wall. 49 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:17.680 Now it's near the end of the first term of 50 00:03:17.720 --> 00:03:24.840 the Trump presidency and something perhaps unexpected has happened. Mexico 51 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:28.840 has a new president, a leftist and a populist. He, 52 00:03:29.320 --> 00:03:32.560 like his predecessor, scoffed at the idea of paying for 53 00:03:32.600 --> 00:03:36.920 the wall. Get to the surprise of many, he's become 54 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.080 a willing partner in Trump's mission of slowing immigration to 55 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:47.840 a trickle. Trump hasn't built his promised wall, at least 56 00:03:47.880 --> 00:03:50.480 not more than a few small sections of it. But 57 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:53.880 it turns out he doesn't need it, and that's because 58 00:03:54.160 --> 00:03:59.720 the wall has become Mexico itself. The real wall, the 59 00:03:59.720 --> 00:04:02.960 one that President Trump has successfully built, is not a 60 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.880 wall of steel or even cement. You could actually say 61 00:04:06.920 --> 00:04:10.960 it's a paper wall. It's a wall of policies, policies 62 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.240 that push migrants out of the US and further and 63 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:18.720 further south. Into Mexico. These are policies made by the 64 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:23.200 United States government, as well as Mexican policies made under 65 00:04:23.200 --> 00:04:27.800 pressure and with financial support from the United States. In 66 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:32.159 January of this year, I visited Mexico both its northern 67 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:36.159 and southern borders to learn more about this policy wall 68 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.000 and how it's affecting the lives of migrants today. 69 00:04:40.080 --> 00:04:43.680 I see razor wire now to my right, a gate 70 00:04:44.440 --> 00:04:49.200 over the pathway I started by crossing the border into 71 00:04:49.320 --> 00:04:50.200 Suda Quadris. 72 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:53.160 It's a huge, busy city of nearly one and a 73 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:57.359 half million people, right across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, 74 00:04:57.400 --> 00:04:59.960 which is its sister city. And as a little girl, 75 00:05:00.320 --> 00:05:02.760 I remember making this crossing a couple of times on 76 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:07.599 family vacations to Mexico. But now it seems so different. 77 00:05:08.760 --> 00:05:12.440 So I've got fence above my head, fencing to my right, 78 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.640 fencing to my left. It's like I'm in a cage. 79 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:23.599 It's a little strange, and I'm just getting to the big, huge, rusted, 80 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:33.240 massive barricade that is the fence, the wall. It's long, rusty, brown, 81 00:05:34.440 --> 00:05:37.440 and this was not here in all of the years 82 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:41.640 that I. 83 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:47.600 Crossed as a little kid, you never saw this, the 84 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:50.560 border crossing between these two cities is a place where 85 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:55.120 the Trump administration has piloted many of its new immigration programs. 86 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:57.560 So what is is a place where you get a 87 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:01.680 chance to see the results. We're going to look at 88 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:06.560 policies facing one group of migrants, Specifically, they're considered the 89 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:10.280 most vulnerable. They're asylum seekers, and they're supposed to have 90 00:06:10.440 --> 00:06:15.600 the most protections and care. Over the last couple of years, 91 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:19.279 makeshift tent camps of asylum seekers have popped up in 92 00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:23.040 cities and towns all along the border. There are families 93 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:26.599 that are sleeping under bridges right out in the open. 94 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.880 Here into that what is a large encampment at a 95 00:06:29.960 --> 00:06:34.360 park where thousands of people were living has recently been disbanded. 96 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:39.120 Now those asylum seekers are scattered throughout the city, staying 97 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:43.280 in a series of shelters run by churches and private organizations. 98 00:06:43.880 --> 00:06:46.359 And one of those shelters will be our first stop. 99 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:52.240 So now we're in a very poor area of what 100 00:06:52.440 --> 00:06:55.680 is The street that we're on is not paved, it's 101 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:59.680 all dirt. The shelter we visit is located in a 102 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.520 square building with a plain white wall and a sign 103 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:06.919 outside that says, it's a community center. There are some 104 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:10.640 kids outside playing soccer, and they told me that migrants 105 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:28.840 live here olat this We walked towards the back of 106 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:32.360 this place and I just begin to follow the smell. 107 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.320 There's a mixture of sweet and salty coming from the kitchen. 108 00:07:38.640 --> 00:07:46.160 Can see on a very small stove, one woman is 109 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:50.720 stirring hot cereal with milk for her kids. On another burner, 110 00:07:50.960 --> 00:07:53.480 a young man with a funky haircut and a pink 111 00:07:53.520 --> 00:07:57.440 and blue jacket is making sopita de boyo chicken soup. 112 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:00.520 There's an older woman who's getting her hair done in 113 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:03.480 the kitchen, and others are sitting in the back patio 114 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:04.680 smoking cigarettes. 115 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:07.240 Yes, I thought from. 116 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:12.440 Maman, and. 117 00:08:19.440 --> 00:08:22.800 That's Catherine. She's one of the only Hondurans living in 118 00:08:22.840 --> 00:08:26.920 this shelter full of Cuban asylum seekers. She says they 119 00:08:26.960 --> 00:08:30.320 become like a big family. They cook together and the 120 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:33.120 other women help her with her two daughters, the ones 121 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.320 who will be getting that hot cereal. Catherine says she 122 00:08:36.400 --> 00:08:39.960 feels safe here in this shelter, but not at all 123 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:40.720 in the city. 124 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:48.120 It's Theranicana. 125 00:08:54.520 --> 00:08:57.840 Catherine says, when they first arrived in Waes, she happened 126 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.000 to see a lady crossing the street with her daughter 127 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:04.160 her Then a van stopped, people snatched her child and 128 00:09:04.280 --> 00:09:07.240 took off. The woman was left in the middle of 129 00:09:07.280 --> 00:09:15.880 the street screaming. Catherine says she stopped sending her older 130 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:18.480 daughter to school. She doesn't want her kids out of 131 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:22.760 her sight. She says they almost never go outside except 132 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:31.160 to go to court. That is, in the years she's 133 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:35.240 been at this shelter, Catherine has had six, yes, six 134 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:39.440 hearings with US immigration officials and still no decision on 135 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:42.840 her claim for asylum. What's keeping her and her family 136 00:09:42.920 --> 00:09:47.000 here in Mexico is the first brick in Trump's policy 137 00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:50.040 wall that we're going to talk about. It's something called 138 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:56.480 Migrant Protection Protocols or MPP. You might have heard about it, 139 00:09:56.840 --> 00:10:00.040 and it's also referred to as the Remain in Me 140 00:10:00.040 --> 00:10:05.320 Mexico policy because that's exactly what it forces people to do. 141 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:10.320 Individuals arriving in or entering the United States from Mexico 142 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:15.800 illegally or without proper documentation, maybe returned to Mexico for 143 00:10:15.880 --> 00:10:19.600 the duration of their immigration proceedings, they will not be 144 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.320 able to disappear into the United States. 145 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:27.720 That's former DHS Secretary Kirsten Nielsen announcing the policy back 146 00:10:27.800 --> 00:10:31.199 in December of twenty eighteen. Since remaining in Mexico went 147 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:35.920 into effect, nearly sixty thousand asylum seekers arriving at the 148 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.079 US border, people like Catherine, have been ordered to wait 149 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:43.600 in Mexico while a decision is made in the US 150 00:10:44.040 --> 00:10:48.360 on their asylum petitions. This is a radical departure from 151 00:10:48.400 --> 00:10:51.959 how things used to work. Asylum is a process that 152 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:55.360 can take years, and that's why in the past, asylum 153 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.520 seekers were always allowed to wait safely in the US 154 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:03.600 for their hearings. Now, asylum seekers like Catherine are stuck 155 00:11:03.880 --> 00:11:05.400 on the other side of the border. 156 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:09.600 SiO. 157 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:13.640 She shows me her appointment letter from Customs and Border Protection. 158 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:21.400 Don de lutins, where are you keeping this? This piece 159 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:24.800 of paper is the only proof that Catherine has of 160 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:28.079 her pending case. To make sure she never loses it 161 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:31.000 or that no one takes it, she says, she sleeps 162 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:36.640 with it underneath her, so you sleep with it. Part 163 00:11:36.679 --> 00:11:40.680 of the reason that Catherine and sixty thousand asylum seekers, 164 00:11:41.040 --> 00:11:44.640 mostly Central Americans, have been ordered to wait in Mexico 165 00:11:45.280 --> 00:11:50.319 is a surprisingly cooperative relationship between President Trump and Mexico's 166 00:11:50.360 --> 00:12:03.040 President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, better known as AMLO in Acarol. 167 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:12.319 In twenty eighteen, AMLO became Mexico's first leftist president in decades, 168 00:12:12.880 --> 00:12:16.440 and at first, migrant advocates had high expectations. 169 00:12:17.040 --> 00:12:21.760 Mexico's leftist presidential candidate, Andre es Manuel Lopez Operador is 170 00:12:21.800 --> 00:12:24.880 in New York to show solidarity with his fellow countrymen 171 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.679 living in the city. He claims the Trump administration's immigration 172 00:12:28.800 --> 00:12:31.200 crackdown is a violation of human rights. 173 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:35.640 It seemed like AMLO was really going to change things 174 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:39.040 right away. He created this fund to address root causes 175 00:12:39.040 --> 00:12:43.640 of migration from Central America. He pledged thirty billion dollars 176 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:47.200 over the next five years. But then some began to 177 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:51.040 question how many of the progressive policies he talked about 178 00:12:51.520 --> 00:12:55.840 could really be achieved. Then, in the summer of last year, 179 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:58.040 AMLO was put to the test. 180 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:02.440 So President Trump is increasing pressure on Mexico, demanding the 181 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:06.880 country does something to stop undocumented immigrants from crossing the border. Overnight, 182 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.920 President Trump tweeted the United States will impose tariffs on 183 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.439 Mexico until the flow of migrants stops. 184 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:17.960 At first, AMLA refused, but as pressure intensified and with 185 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:22.320 Mexico's economy under threat, he had a surprising change of heart. 186 00:13:23.400 --> 00:13:26.160 After ten days of threats from President Trump to levy 187 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:29.400 tariffs on Mexican products, mister Trump announced Friday night that 188 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:30.600 he had struck a deal. 189 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.880 The deal was to work with Trump on immigration enforcement. 190 00:13:35.400 --> 00:13:38.960 AMLO agreed to a plan to greatly expand MPP the 191 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.960 remain in Mexico policy, and to begin using Mexico's newly 192 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:47.199 minted National Guard to patrol the border and detain migrants. 193 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:49.680 It had been sold to the public as a force 194 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:57.360 that would deal with crime and corruption issues. By September 195 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:01.560 of twenty nineteen, Mexico announced it had reduced migrant movement 196 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:05.720 north towards the US border by fifty percent. And this 197 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.160 collaboration between the US and Mexico has led to a 198 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:15.400 situation that has put asylum seekers lives on the line. 199 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:36.320 That's coming up. Stay with us, Yes, Welcome back to Latino, USA. 200 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.440 I'm Maria Jossan. Let's return to part one of The 201 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:42.560 Moving Border, our award winning series from twenty twenty. 202 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:44.120 Let's see what's. 203 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:47.600 At the port of entry by the border. I'm waiting 204 00:14:47.640 --> 00:14:54.640 for Attorney Linda rivas Hi. Hi, Linda Maria to me too. 205 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:59.320 I'm the executive director at Las America's Immigrant Advocacy Center, 206 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:03.200 and we're You're a thirty two year old legal nonprofit 207 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:06.360 in all pass to Texas and as of the remain 208 00:15:06.400 --> 00:15:10.040 in Mexico programs starting, a lot of our work is 209 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.800 now on this side of the border, into the acquatas. 210 00:15:12.920 --> 00:15:16.880 Linda takes me to see another piece of Trump's policy 211 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:20.040 wall in action. Where are we described where we are. 212 00:15:20.640 --> 00:15:24.040 You cross the bridge and you just turn the corner 213 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.320 and it's kind of hidden in here, and it's called 214 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:27.920 the GAEME. 215 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:33.120 Gayeme, which is the Center for Comprehensive Migrants Services, is 216 00:15:33.160 --> 00:15:36.440 a state run agency that acts as a processing center 217 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:40.200 of sorts for migrants in what is now Its goal 218 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:43.680 is to provide a one stop shop where migrants can 219 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:46.760 apply for social services, where they can get legal assistance. 220 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:48.720 And also this is. 221 00:15:48.680 --> 00:15:53.400 Also where people are being metered. 222 00:15:54.920 --> 00:15:58.240 Metering is another way the US and Mexican governments are 223 00:15:58.280 --> 00:16:02.440 collaborating on border policy, even if it's a little unofficial. 224 00:16:03.400 --> 00:16:07.400 So what metering means simply is that US officials have 225 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:11.360 been arbitrarily limiting the number of people who are allowed 226 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.040 to present themselves at the border each day to ask 227 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:14.880 for asylum. 228 00:16:15.040 --> 00:16:17.200 They're not letting them physically step foot into the United 229 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:21.000 States to legally seek asylum. They're saying we're full, go away. 230 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.880 And when they say we're full, go away. There suddenly 231 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:28.160 a system emerged that was like, Okay, we're taking thirty 232 00:16:28.160 --> 00:16:30.880 people today, we're taking ten people today, We're taking no 233 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:31.560 one today. 234 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:35.360 Once the US started taking fewer people, it caused a 235 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:39.640 huge backlog of migrants waiting in Mexico to ask for asylum, 236 00:16:39.880 --> 00:16:45.600 and that's when the list began. It started as a 237 00:16:45.680 --> 00:16:49.120 kind of makeshift list in a migrants notebook well over 238 00:16:49.160 --> 00:16:52.080 a year ago, with new people arriving every day. It 239 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:55.080 kept track of who was here first and whose turn 240 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:56.880 it would be to go to the border and speak 241 00:16:56.880 --> 00:16:59.880 to a US officer to present their claim. It was 242 00:16:59.880 --> 00:17:02.920 the way migrants could take some control of the situation 243 00:17:03.400 --> 00:17:07.080 and keep some order while they waited. Eventually, in what 244 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:13.120 is this government office took charge of the list. CBP 245 00:17:13.280 --> 00:17:15.479 receive as personas. 246 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:18.640 Nos Camels and Illumero. 247 00:17:20.800 --> 00:17:21.520 Bentiocho. 248 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:25.880 CBP will see ten people today. Number nineteen thousand, four 249 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.320 hundred and twenty eight. A Mexican official calls this out 250 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:36.120 to a large room quatra pjuatrocentos treenta. The person holding 251 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.120 the number approaches the official to say that they're here. 252 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:59.800 Quatrosrent you know, quatros quatros quatro. An official later tells 253 00:17:59.800 --> 00:18:02.960 me that at its highest point, there are over six 254 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:06.359 thousand people on the list at once waiting for their 255 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:09.440 number to be called. Right now there are just two 256 00:18:09.560 --> 00:18:12.959 hundred names of people waiting on the list. It's another 257 00:18:13.040 --> 00:18:15.919 sign that the policy wall is doing the job it 258 00:18:16.040 --> 00:18:19.159 was meant to do. And even though we saw it 259 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:24.320 happening ourselves, Mexican officials won't admit on the record that 260 00:18:24.320 --> 00:18:27.840 they're managing the list. They know that working with the 261 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:30.679 US on this would be controversial. 262 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:35.159 And so this has been a pretty unofficial cooperation between 263 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:39.400 the two governments to what the United States is trying 264 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:43.600 to control the flow with. I believe no. 265 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:53.240 Justification, Riva says. Metering and the remain in Mexico policy 266 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:57.760 work hand in hand. Metering keeps asylum seekers in Mexico 267 00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:00.520 waiting for their number to be called, and once it 268 00:19:00.600 --> 00:19:05.119 finally is, the remain in Mexico policy then draws out 269 00:19:05.320 --> 00:19:11.199 that weight. The problem is the US has exported a 270 00:19:11.320 --> 00:19:16.639 key responsibility for dealing with highly vulnerable refugees their immediate 271 00:19:16.760 --> 00:19:20.920 safety and protection. Mexico is left to figure it out 272 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:25.639 and they have no requirement to prove anything is being done. 273 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:30.680 What Mexico has done is this, migrants on MPP are 274 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.760 now given a document which protects them from being deported 275 00:19:33.800 --> 00:19:37.440 from Mexico while their case is pending. If they want 276 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:40.520 to work legally in Mexico while they're waiting or access healthcare, 277 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.480 they have to request something called a group, which is 278 00:19:43.520 --> 00:19:46.840 basically like a temporary Social Security number, but it only 279 00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:50.480 lasts six months. And whether they can get this document 280 00:19:50.600 --> 00:19:53.600 in every border city or if it can be renewed, 281 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:55.640 depends on who you ask. 282 00:19:57.000 --> 00:19:59.720 I think that reflects the fact that on paper things 283 00:19:59.760 --> 00:20:01.679 are way and then in practice with some others. 284 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:05.600 That's Maureen Mayor, she's an advocate at the Washington Office 285 00:20:05.640 --> 00:20:09.160 on Latin America. She says Mexico is getting by providing 286 00:20:09.320 --> 00:20:12.480 the bare minimum for those waiting under MPP. 287 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:17.960 The Mexican government really promised originally to look at opportunities 288 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:21.439 for employment and other services. We really haven't seen that 289 00:20:21.520 --> 00:20:24.119 panout at the border or elsewhere. 290 00:20:24.600 --> 00:20:29.160 In Quitas Mexico's government has what they think is attempting 291 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:32.080 offer for those who have been forced to remain in 292 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.800 the north of Mexico and fear the high levels of 293 00:20:34.840 --> 00:20:38.439 crime here. They're offering a free bus rite to the 294 00:20:38.560 --> 00:20:41.160 south of Mexico while they wait out their process. 295 00:20:41.560 --> 00:20:44.439 The one way ticket, you have to figure out on 296 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.080 your own how to get the funds to bust yourself 297 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:50.240 back up to the border. And obviously that poses the 298 00:20:50.320 --> 00:20:53.119 question to what happens if your hearing date changes. So 299 00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:56.600 it's I think it's for the most part, a program 300 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:59.560 that the mexicanument adopted to try to get people out 301 00:20:59.560 --> 00:21:02.199 of the northern border. But if they're really concerned about 302 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:04.920 supporting this population, you wouldn't send them all the way 303 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:06.200 back to southern Mexico. 304 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:10.400 This is an instance where Mexico isn't just a passive 305 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:15.040 bystander to a US policy that pushes asylum seekers away 306 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:19.280 from the US border. This is one that Mexico has created. 307 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.840 Meyer thinks the point of the bussing program ultimately is 308 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:27.480 to convince people to just give up on their asylum claims. 309 00:21:27.800 --> 00:21:30.720 Maybe if we can make it so uncomfortable and unbearable 310 00:21:30.760 --> 00:21:32.120 to stay there, people just go home. 311 00:21:32.600 --> 00:21:35.920 But for those who still decide to stay, the end 312 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:39.119 result of this policy wall we've been talking about is 313 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:42.399 that asylum seekers are stuck on the border for long 314 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:47.080 periods of time, living in shelters, in an ambiguous legal status, 315 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:51.000 and that adds up to a situation that puts them 316 00:21:51.200 --> 00:22:02.719 at risk. Which leads me to the story of M 317 00:22:03.080 --> 00:22:06.520 and her seven year old daughter A. We're referring to 318 00:22:06.560 --> 00:22:10.920 them by their first initials for their protection. Linda introduces 319 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:14.240 me to them at the Migrants Center, and later I'm 320 00:22:14.280 --> 00:22:17.359 invited to visit M at the house where she's staying 321 00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:26.480 to hear their story in a little bit more privacy. 322 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:30.479 They're living with an employee from the shelter, and in 323 00:22:30.520 --> 00:22:33.440 return for a bedroom that she shares with her daughter, 324 00:22:33.800 --> 00:22:36.240 she has to clean the house and keep things tidy. 325 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:40.159 Em says she traveled with her daughter as well as 326 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:43.880 her husband and young son from Monduras. Somewhere along the way, 327 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:47.159 they were split up and M continued north with her 328 00:22:47.280 --> 00:22:51.040 daughter alone. Then she tells me they were kidnapped just 329 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:54.360 hours after they arrived in what is do ye yeah 330 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:01.240 me i meri. 331 00:23:04.840 --> 00:23:05.560 Isunayama. 332 00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:15.080 Em says she was sitting at a bus stop with 333 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:17.600 her daughter on the outskirts of the city, trying to 334 00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:21.399 get downtown. It was dusk and by now it was cold. 335 00:23:22.080 --> 00:23:25.199 They didn't have coats, which is the easiest way to 336 00:23:25.320 --> 00:23:28.760 spot new arrivals to what is during the winter months. 337 00:23:29.600 --> 00:23:32.560 Em says that a man sat down on the bench 338 00:23:32.680 --> 00:23:36.120 next to her and asked where she was heading. Then 339 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:38.159 he got up and made a phone call, and a 340 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:42.360 few minutes later, a truck pulls up, a man gets out. 341 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:46.720 He flashes a gun and tells her to get in 342 00:23:46.800 --> 00:23:50.399 with her daughter. Em says that they were taken to 343 00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:54.080 a warehouse where ten other migrants were being held. She 344 00:23:54.119 --> 00:23:58.280 says the kidnappers contacted their families for ransom money. Em 345 00:23:58.320 --> 00:24:01.720 says when the kidnappers take people out of the warehouse, 346 00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:16.400 they never came back. One day, they came for her, 347 00:24:16.800 --> 00:24:19.480 crammed her and her daughter, a and a few others 348 00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:22.199 into the backseat of a car. She says, when they 349 00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:24.560 got caught in traffic for a moment, she knew it 350 00:24:24.600 --> 00:24:27.639 was now or never, since no ransom had been paid. 351 00:24:28.280 --> 00:24:30.800 She managed to push open the car door and run 352 00:24:30.840 --> 00:24:34.040 away with her daughter. The mom tells me that a 353 00:24:34.080 --> 00:24:37.880 good Samaritan takes them to a shelter. It was so 354 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:41.960 packed there weren't enough beds or blankets, so mother and 355 00:24:42.080 --> 00:24:45.119 daughter were forced to sleep on the floor in a 356 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:55.440 room full of strangers. Mucha hein Mucha he has Navies 357 00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:01.760 and then one night at the shelter, something horrible happened. 358 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:06.560 Em says her young daughter woke up next to her naked, 359 00:25:07.280 --> 00:25:11.080 and she believes her daughter was sexually assaulted. She took 360 00:25:11.080 --> 00:25:13.399 her daughter to the doctor and tried to report this 361 00:25:13.520 --> 00:25:16.640 to the police, but she says when they saw her 362 00:25:16.840 --> 00:25:20.560 enduring i D they refused to take down a report. 363 00:25:21.040 --> 00:25:24.760 Em says this entire thing has been eating away at 364 00:25:24.840 --> 00:25:25.720 her ever since. 365 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:49.359 Kive It Mah who knew ka Mi Si who's kas. 366 00:25:47.800 --> 00:25:51.720 Em says she feels guilty. After all, she left Hondudahs 367 00:25:51.800 --> 00:25:55.040 to protect her kids and give them an education. She 368 00:25:55.080 --> 00:25:57.320 says she had no way to know everything that they'd 369 00:25:57.320 --> 00:26:00.720 go through, and still after all of this, they haven't 370 00:26:00.760 --> 00:26:04.120 even been able to get into the United States, even 371 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:07.200 though the Remain in Mexico policy is supposed to make 372 00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:11.320 an exception for migrants who are in very vulnerable positions. 373 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:15.280 M and her daughter twice victims of crime in Mexico 374 00:26:15.520 --> 00:26:18.920 were told that they must remain in Mexico for however 375 00:26:19.080 --> 00:26:22.879 long it takes for the United States to decide their case. 376 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.280 In the beginning, when Linda Rivas, the lawyer, first started 377 00:26:32.320 --> 00:26:35.960 representing them, they were hopeful. But now the mom says, 378 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:38.920 after her last hearing, she doesn't know what to think anymore. 379 00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:43.040 The judge, she says, seemed like he didn't even care 380 00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:49.359 to hear what had happened to them. And A, even 381 00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:53.439 though she's only seven years old, she's picking up on 382 00:26:53.640 --> 00:26:54.200 all of it. 383 00:26:55.480 --> 00:27:00.840 A mediica Mommy, Joanna Creoke no de herpasarqui yellow. 384 00:27:00.840 --> 00:27:05.560 The little girl tells her mom now that it's all 385 00:27:05.560 --> 00:27:08.560 a lie, that the United States will never let them in. 386 00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:12.160 She's clearly been affected by everything that they've gone through. 387 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:15.560 Her mom says that now her daughter rarely sleeps through 388 00:27:15.560 --> 00:27:25.320 the night. As I was leaving, I decided to give 389 00:27:25.800 --> 00:27:29.359 this little girl a beaded prayer bracelet that I was wearing. 390 00:27:30.040 --> 00:27:33.360 I tell her that she can count the beads at 391 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:37.040 night when she can't sleep, just the way that I do. 392 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:56.760 Juan Luezo, And then all of a sudden, the little 393 00:27:56.800 --> 00:28:00.119 girl grabs her long hair, covers her face with it, 394 00:28:00.840 --> 00:28:03.440 and she starts telling me that she's always dreaming about 395 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:06.600 her mom being kidnapped again. That's why she wakes up 396 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:08.120 crying in the middle of the night. 397 00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:16.720 Him le. 398 00:28:19.080 --> 00:28:24.480 Mohammada, we didn't eat, she says. Then she tells me 399 00:28:24.520 --> 00:28:27.280 that they were there for five days, that they mistreated 400 00:28:27.320 --> 00:28:30.320 her Mom yelled at her, pushed her, told her that 401 00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:32.399