Joint statement by Democratic Socialists of America Immigrants’ Rights WG and International Socialist Organization Immigrants’ Rights WG on recent human rights interference by the governments of the United States and Mexico
February 4, 2019
The undersigned organizations condemn in the strongest terms possible actions taken to disrupt legal counsel to members of the Central American Exodus. Specifically, attorneys of the bi-national nonprofit organization Al Otro Lado have been barred from travel into Mexico or forcibly removed from Mexico after the placement of alerts on their passports — this after United States authorities began actively referring asylum seekers sent back to Mexico to visit Al Otro Lado’s offices in Tijuana. These actions are mind-blowingly contradictory. DSA members from several chapters across the country have supported Al Otro Lado in a range of capacities, and we can directly attest to the importance of its mission and the organization’s vital role in migration justice.
While neither the origin or rationale of the alerts has been determined, what is abundantly clear is a pattern of obstructive behavior designed to withhold the good faith consideration of asylum that is covenanted to individuals internationally by multilateral accords. Less than a week before Al Otro Lado attorneys found their travel impeded, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began implementing the "Migrant Protection Program,” returning asylum seekers back to Tijuana to pursue the major portion of their asylum proceedings from Mexico. Near simultaneously, the transitional shelter in Tijuana preventing the worst humanitarian outcomes was abruptly shut down, its residents turned out on the street.
