British media: The United States deals with border immigrants through "threats and fraud", with a large number of asylum seekers stranded in Mexico, feeling desperate and helpless. Mexico | Officials | United States
On July 4th, China Daily reported that US border officials have promised some asylum seekers that if they agree to be sent to Mexico and make an appointment for re entry there, they will have a greater chance of staying in the United States, otherwise they will be deported, citing immigration activists on the website of The Guardian. However, when these immigrants were sent to the inland areas of Mexico far from the US Mexico border, they were unable to enter the US asylum system and could only stay there, desperate and helpless.
Screenshot of Guardian website report
According to reports, some people reported being pressured by federal investigators from the United States to sign so-called "voluntary repatriation" documents, forcing them to choose between "returning to the US Mexico border" and "returning to their country of origin.".
The report states that the US government has adopted a "carrot and stick" approach to deal with these immigrants. Carrots refer to border officials telling asylum seekers that they have a greater chance of obtaining asylum if they try to reapply from another country through specific procedures approved by the US government. The "big stick" is a threat to asylum seekers, telling them that if they do not agree to leave, they will be deported and face related consequences.
In recent weeks, many people have chosen voluntary repatriation. However, after being brought across the border by the US government, they were ultimately transported by the Mexican government to places such as Tabasco in the southern part of the country without receiving any warning. Asylum seekers who are abandoned there often have no money and find themselves unable to enter the US government's asylum application process.
The report points out that the official has not yet disclosed how many people have chosen "voluntary repatriation". "It's too big... it's too scary. It happened to thousands of people," said immigration lawyer Priscilla Olta.
Danelis Benita Perez Rosas is an asylum seeker. According to her, American officials gave her an English document and asked her to sign it. "I was told that because I entered the country illegally, they had to deport me," Rosas said. "They said I either had to be deported back to Venezuela or signed a document and chose to be sent to Mexico."
It is reported that Rosas ultimately chose to be sent to Mexico because American officials told her that she could apply for an appointment to the United States and request asylum through the official mobile application there. However, when she was sent to the capital of Tabasco, Mexico, in May, she found that she couldn't use the mobile application at all because it was based on geolocation and mainly used on the US Mexico border and Mexico City, but her location was too far away.
Rosas is in a completely unfamiliar city, isolated and helpless, and her money was already spent when she first arrived at the Mexican border. For her, this situation is at a loss, hopeless and helpless. But for the US government, this only means that one immigrant who applied for asylum is missing from their program.
Immigration advocacy groups say that Rosas's experience is not an isolated case. Orta criticized the US government's policy as "recklessly cruel", and documents including "voluntary repatriation" made any future attempts to apply for US asylum more difficult.
A 19-year-old Venezuelan man and his companions arrived in Brownsville, Texas, USA and were respectively detained in narrow detention facilities. They face the same choice but cannot obtain legal advice. "They only told us that there were two options, voluntary repatriation to Mexico or being deported to their country of origin," he said.
He also revealed that they asked if choosing voluntary repatriation would have an impact on reapplying for entry on a mobile application in the future, and the answer they received was that there would be no problem. Federal investigators in the United States stated that the application can be used throughout Mexico. But in reality, they were also sent to Biaermosa.
"We cannot retrieve our belongings, we only have the clothes we wear. We did as they requested, but our rights were trampled upon," he said.
According to reports, the 19-year-old man, along with Rosas, has been trapped in Mexico for several weeks. They are not only in a difficult situation, but they are still unable to enter the US asylum system.
Cody Wofors, the legal commissioner for the Immigration Rights Program of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that these disturbing reports are consistent with the cruel and illegal new asylum ban imposed by the US government, which misleads asylum seekers by immigration officials, "which is disappointing.".
