Asylum Seekers Stuck in Mexico Have Staged a Protest. These Are the Conditions They Endure.

https://prospect.org/health/asylum-seekers-protest-matamoros-mexico/

Asylum Seekers Stuck in Mexico Have Staged a Protest. These Are the Conditions They Endure.
In refugee-style camps from Matamoros to Tijuana, hundreds of asylum seekers are forced to wait under the Remain in Mexico policy—with dangerous implications for public health.
by Marcia Brown
October 11, 2019



In Matamoros, Mexico—just a few feet from the U.S. border at Brownsville, Texas—are hundreds of camping tents. Not quite a refugee camp, this informal space is home to hundreds of asylum seekers and migrants waiting for their asylum hearing in Mexico.

Under the Trump administration’s policies, nearly 50,000 people have been forced to wait in dangerous border towns in Mexico for asylum hearings. Some towns, such as Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo have State Department travel warnings that advise American tourists not to visit for fear of violent crime, kidnapping, extortion, and sexual assault.

Indeed, out of fear of being kidnapped, asylum seekers have fashioned encampments as close to the U.S. border as possible, according to Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, an immigrant advocacy group. Schulte recently visited Matamoros to check in with dozens of grantees that, over the past 16 months, FWD.us has worked with along the border to provide resources migrants need, such as humanitarian aid, communications support, and legal representation.

And on Thursday, hundreds of asylum seekers made their way onto the Gateway International Bridge, stopping traffic across the border and drawing international attention to their plight, according to BuzzFeed reporter Adolfo Flores. Because of the commotion, U.S. Customs and Border Protection told asylum seekers that their hearings scheduled for that morning—which they had been waiting in line for since 4 a.m.—had been postponed. It’s unclear when the hearings would be rescheduled.

The tent camps, Schulte explained, are a public health disaster waiting to happen. In Matamoros camp, he said he saw children with pink eye and more than two dozen pregnant women, among other growing health challenges. Many of the migrants have come from Central America, where poverty means that parents must choose between vaccinating their children and feeding them. The result is unvaccinated people living in close quarters—there have been outbreaks of chickenpox. But there is little to no access to healthcare in the camps.



more...

https://prospect.org/health/asylum-seekers-protest-matamoros-mexico/