House Democrats walked across the southern border into Mexico on Friday and reacted with outrage after seeing how thousands of migrants live as they await their day in a U.S. court.
“What you see in terms of people sleeping on the ground and living in tents or under tarps is something that you would see in a refugee camp in Syria, and it’s right across the border, and our country has created the circumstances to make this happen,” Rep. Linda Sanchez of California, the former Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairwoman, said in a video post.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus-led tour of nearly 20 members started in the South Texas town of Brownsville. Lawmakers walked over a bridge that stretches over the Rio Grande to Matamoros, a border town in Mexico’s Tamaulipas state, to see how asylum-seekers have been affected by a Trump administration policy that went into effect one year ago.
The Migrant Protection Protocols were implemented by the Department of Homeland Security last January and force asylum-seekers who approach an official border crossing to remain in Mexico until their day in court comes, which can be months in the future. Asylum-seekers are then escorted into the United States for a court proceeding at “tent courts” in Brownsville, where legal proceedings take place in temporary facilities outdoors. At last count, 60,000 asylum-seekers had been turned back to Mexico to await court dates.
Immigrant families are not allowed to be held in custody for more than 20 days, allowing the nearly half a million who were apprehended in fiscal 2019 to be released into the country and await the decision of a court date years down the road. Some never show for the court date and live illegally in the country. The Department of Homeland Security created the program in an effort to take those who present themselves at border crossings and those who illegally cross and make them wait outside the country during that process.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus said in a media advisory that Matamoros has the largest share of asylum-seekers stuck in Mexico out of all the border cities, but the exact population counts of this specific tent city varied between lawmakers. New Mexico Rep. Ben Lujan said 1,500 live at the camp, but Illinoisan Rep. Jesus Garcia said 2,500, and Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon reported 3,000 people.
This is the International Bridge connecting Brownsville, TX and Matamoros, Mexico. Across this short walk, #DemsAtTheBorder will encounter approximately 3,000 migrant families trapped by #RemainInMexico. pic.twitter.com/dcUjk5x8DX
— Hispanic Caucus (@HispanicCaucus) January 17, 2020
Members lamented the slum-like conditions in the tent city, including insufficient clean water, improper sanitation systems, and a lack in medical care. Rep. Nanette Barragan of California took a picture of a woman doing laundry in a dirty river. DeFazio said medical staff at the camp described it as being “so bad, they need the same type of support and infrastructure that is given to the formal refugee camps in the Middle East.”
Today’s Migrants come to America for safety, freedom and opportunity—just like they have been for 250 years. The deserve better than the horrible conditions I’ve seen at Matamoros. #DemsAtTheBorder pic.twitter.com/0Gddwdm7D0
— Nanette D. Barragán (@RepBarragan) January 17, 2020
“Thousands of families are trapped in limbo at the Matamoros, Mexico refugee camp because of @realDonaldTrump’s disastrous #RemainInMexico policy. No one should ever be subjected to these inhumane living conditions. No one. We are better than this,” wrote Rep. Norma Torres of California.
Thousands of families are trapped in limbo at the Matamoros, Mexico refugee camp because of @realDonaldTrump‘s disastrous #RemainInMexico policy. No one should ever be subjected to these inhumane living conditions. No one. We are better than this. #DemsAtTheBorder pic.twitter.com/jovxC3WhHY
— Rep. Norma Torres (@NormaJTorres) January 17, 2020
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, shared images of Mexican military guarding the premises.
These are the terrible conditions kids and their families are living in due to President Trump’s cruel #RemainInMexico policy. This is inhumane, and it is wrong. #DontLookAway #DemsAtTheBorder pic.twitter.com/AP3S0t5IKr
— Rosa DeLauro (@rosadelauro) January 17, 2020
“Just left the border,” Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro wrote on Twitter. “We were able to get a young girl with a heart defect and Down’s Syndrome allowed into the United States with her family while their asylum claim is considered. She had been denied yesterday #DemsAtTheBorder.”
