Children's Rights Groups File Supreme Court Amicus Brief Telling the Stories of Children Harmed by “Remain in Mexico”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C., September 28, 2021— Yesterday, a coalition of immigrant and children’s rights organizations including the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, Kids in Need of Defense, Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley, Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Children’s Defense Fund, First Focus on Children, Save the Children Action Network, and Save the Children, with support from the firm Milbank LLP, filed an amicus brief in the appeal before the 5th Circuit in support of the government’s decision to terminate the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico policy, focusing on the harm to children caused by MPP.

For more than two years, MPP has trapped more than 70,000 people, including tens of thousands of children, in dangerous conditions in northern Mexico while they awaited hearings on their asylum claims. The children and families subjected to the program not only fled violence in their own countries but as homeless migrants in Mexico face new threats to their safety, including murder, kidnapping, and sexual violence.

On January 20, 2021, the Biden-Harris administration suspended new enrollments in MPP, but thousands of families and children remain in MPP, stranded and forced to brave threats of violence and dangerous conditions in Mexico in order to pursue their asylum claims. Texas and Missouri subsequently filed a lawsuit against the government challenging its decision to end MPP. In August, the district court judge in that case ruled in favor of Texas and Missouri and issued an injunction ordering the Biden administration to reinstate MPP. The U.S. government appealed to the 5th Circuit and the Supreme Court denied the government’s request to stay the injunction while the appeal is pending. Children’s rights organizations filed this amicus brief in support of the government’s decision to end MPP.

The amicus brief tells the stories of children like five-year-old Juan and his mother who escaped threats to their lives in their home country only to be forced to wait in dangerous conditions in Matamoros. While at the encampment, Juan and his mother were kidnapped for two months, Juan got ill and couldn’t access medical care, and they were eventually forced to separate so that Juan could find safety alone at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Leaders from each of the organizations that joined together to share these stories released the following statements:

“MPP has placed tens of thousands in harm’s way, forced families into separation, and compounded the trauma of those who’d braved great dangers to make it to our borders to seek safety. It’s time for this dangerous policy to end once and for all and for us, as a nation, to begin welcoming anyone seeking protection at our borders with dignity,” said Young Center Senior Litigation Attorney Jane Liu.

“We are proud to work alongside Young Center and other dedicated organizations in opposition to the Migrant Protection Protocols,” said Milbank partner Mark Shinderman, who led the Milbank pro bono team. “Mr. Mayorkas had more than enough evidence to conclude that these unlawful policies forcing asylum-seeking children to await their immigration hearings in Mexico are clear violations of federal law and international treaties, and blatantly deny the fundamental right to due process. Indeed, the protocols were put in place without properly considering due process and other factors required by law. We urge the Fifth Circuit to end MPP for the thousands of families and children who remain subjected to this damaging program.”

“The Migrant Protection Protocols have needlessly exposed children and families to grave danger, including targeted violence, kidnapping, sexual abuse, exploitation, and even death,” said KIND Senior Director of Legal Strategy Scott Shuchart. “It has also caused family separation that has inflicted irreparable harm to families and traumatized children. MPP is dangerous and illegal and undermines our obligations for the orderly and safe reception of asylum seekers at our borders.”

“Children and families arriving at our nation’s borders seeking safety deserve to be welcomed with dignity. The Migrant Protection Protocols denies children their right to be heard, forces them to suffer inhumane conditions, and subjects them to devastating harms, including family separation and trauma. The reinstatement of the policy is a dangerous and cruel step backwards, and it must be rejected,” said Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, President and CEO, Children’s Defense Fund.

“The Remain in Mexico policy subjected thousands of children and families to violence, family separation, and sham immigration proceedings. Ending it was the right thing to do,” said Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus on Children. “There is no question that the policy, or anything like it, violates our laws, values, and the hopes of those who come to our border seeking safe haven. The only legal and humane way forward is for the government to fully restore our asylum system and provide children and families with a safe place to stay, access to lawyers, and family unity in the United States as they make their claim for protection.”

“Children and families have a legal right to seek safety and sanctuary in the United States. The MPP policy, however, unnecessarily has forced families to wait in unsafe camps and environments on the other side of the border for prolonged periods of time, where they are exploited for their vulnerabilities, and illness and violence is rampant. This policy has created long-lasting harm to thousands of children and families, violating their rights as human being and undermines the rule of law.” said Katherine Kaufka Walts, Director at the Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

“MPP is a policy proven to be extremely detrimental to asylum-seeking families and children forced to wait in Mexico, putting them at risk of violence, limiting their access to due process protections, and gravely violating their human rights,” said Roy Chrobocinski, Senior Director of Government Relations at Save the Children. “Children and families escaping violence, persecution and extreme poverty deserve to be protected and treated with dignity, respect and compassion. MPP must be rescinded once and for all. Only then can we achieve a more humane and just asylum system.”

To read the stories of some of the children impacted by MPP, click here.

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MEDIA CONTACTS

Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, Noorjahan Akbar, media@theyoungcenter.org, (202) 725-7184

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Megan McKenna, mmckenna@supportkind.org, (202) 631-9990

Milbank, LLP, Jocelyn De Carvalho, JDeCarvalho@milbank.com, (212) 530-5509

Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley, Jennifer Harbury, jharbury@gmail.com

Center for the Human Rights of Children at Loyola University Chicago, Kristi Turnbaugh, kturnbaugh@luc.edu

Children’s Defense Fund, Emily Gardner, egardner@childrensdefense.org, (804) 519-5915

First Focus on Children, Michele Kayal, michelek@firstfocus.org, 703-919-8778

Save the Children, Suzanne Arnold, sarnold@savechildren.org, 609-610-4957