"Remain in Mexico" Policy Is a Virtual Wall, Will Lead to Deaths, Rights Attorneys Say

In response to the announcement that the Trump administration will force asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their applications are being processed, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:

Like all of the Trump administration's immigration policies, "Remain in Mexico" is inhumane and unlawful. Rates of violence in U.S.-Mexico border towns are often as high or higher than they are in the countries asylum seekers are fleeing. People will die. They will die on both sides of the border, whether in Mexico because of organized crime, en route because of increased trafficking, or, because they will be forced to cross between ports of entry, on the U.S. side from exposure to the elements.

Yet another wall this policy creates is the wall between asylum seekers and their attorneys. Forcing asylum seekers to wait across the border during cases that often take years to resolve institutionalizes lack of access to counsel and access to due process.

This is a virtual wall, a work-around for the fact that Trump's proposed physical wall at the border is widely seen for what it is--racist, xenophobic, unnecessary, ineffective, expensive, and cruel--and widely rejected by the American people.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is co-counsel in two asylum-related cases, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Trump and Al Otro Lado v. Nielsen.