The “Migration Protection Protocols” are based on false premises and further erode due process for immigrants

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The Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative (HILSC) condemns the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “Migration Protection Protocols,” which were announced on December 20, 2018 by DHS Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen.  Under the Protocols, individuals who arrive from Mexico and request asylum may be returned to Mexico while their immigration proceedings take place in the United States.

DHS’s new policy is based on a number of faulty premises.  In her statement, Secretary Nielsen cites a statistic that nine out of ten asylum claims are not granted by an immigration judge.  This is simply erroneous.  According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), based at Syracuse University, in FY 2018 thirty-five percent of asylum cases heard by an immigration judge were approved.

Additionally, as HILSC member organizations know well, the vast majority of denied asylum claims are denied either because the client does not have a good immigration attorney or because the applicant does not qualify under immigration law. Pathways for legal immigration, and particularly asylum, have been systematically narrowed by the Trump Administration, despite the fact that applicants are in very real fear for their lives and the lives and safety of their family members. Simply put, the vast majority of asylum claims, even those that are eventually denied, are not fraudulent.  This policy will force asylum-seekers to remain in a vulnerable situation in Mexico.

Furthermore, this policy will make it virtually impossible for asylum-seekers to access legal assistance.  In her statement, Secretary Nielson says that applicants will have access to immigration attorneys, but provides no information on how this will be accomplished.  Asylum-seekers do not have the right to appointed counsel.  However, whether or not an asylum-seeker is represented by counsel is one of the biggest factors in whether an applicant’s claim will be approved.  Most US immigration attorneys will not be able to travel to Mexico to meet with clients.  It will be extremely difficult for asylum-seekers to gather the evidence they need to support their cases from Mexico and with a limited ability to communicate with their attorneys.  Asylum-seekers have due process rights in immigration proceedings, including the right to an attorney and the right to present evidence, and DHS’s new policy will prevent asylum-seekers from exercising those rights.

The Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative stands with asylum-seekers and refugees in opposition to this action by the Trump Administration. We urge Houstonians to speak out against these policies by calling their members of Congress. Individuals, including attorneys, can volunteer with our partner organizations. We also welcome donations supporting legal representation for asylum seekers in the greater Houston region.

The Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative was formed in 2013 to address the lack of legal services capacity in the Houston region. Collaborative members include Houston non-profit legal services providers, outreach and advocacy organizations, the business community, law school legal clinics, public agencies, and private foundations. The mission of the Collaborative is to create a coordinated network of effective and efficient services to assist low-income immigrants access the information and legal representation that allows them to make choices in their own best interest.

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Take Action: Public Charge

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On September 22, 2018, the Trump Administration released proposed harmful changes to the “public charge” rule. These changes would strongly raise new high barriers for prospective lawful permanent residents if they are poor or have used government benefits like Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), Medicare’s Part D with prescription medication costs for seniors, or housing subsidies.

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Family separation support services

Attack on Asylum

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On November 9, President Trump issued a proclamation that places severe restrictions on individuals seeking asylum through the southern border of the United States.

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HILSC statement on presidential proclamation barring asylum seekers

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Trump Administration moves to bar migrants from seeking asylum

Houston’s legal community is gravely concerned about the consequences of the latest efforts to shred asylum law, a critical pathway to legal immigration

Today, President Trump issued a final rule and presidential proclamation that places severe restrictions on individuals seeking asylum through the southern border of the United States. In so doing, the Administration is effectively shutting down asylum as a pathway for legal immigration for many immigrants. Under current U.S. law, anyone newly arriving or who has been in the United States for less than one year can ask for asylum if they have a fear of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

This marks another executive action attacking refugees and asylum seekers, following the precedent set by the 2017 Muslim Ban and decreasing the number of admitted refugees to a mere 30,000 per year. The Administration is relying on the same authority to bar immigrants from Muslim-majority countries as justification for this new rule.

Andrea Guttin, Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative’s Legal Director said:
The President is trying side-step our laws which allow anyone on U.S. soil to seek asylum when they fear they will be threatened, harmed, or killed because of who they are or what they believe. The Administration has tasked itself with dismantling asylum law since it came into power. The President is using the caravan as a scare tactic to justify his long-standing agenda to close our border to the most vulnerable. This new proclamation will lead to mothers, fathers, and children whose lives are in danger being turned away, despite our country’s moral and legal obligation to provide refuge.

American asylum law recognizes not everyone can come to a border crossing point, such as bridge or another “port of entry,” in order to seek asylum. As such, our laws permit anyone in the country to seek asylum – regardless of how they enter. Alarmingly, however, border officers have used threats, lies, and outright denials to keep out asylum seekers who do exactly what the President is asking them to do: ask for refuge at a port of entry. The government’s own Ombudsman investigated and reported earlier this summer that asylum-seekers have been turned back at the arriving port of entry, leading some “who would otherwise seek legal entry into the United States to cross the border illegally.”

Lauren Fisher-Flores, an immigration attorney with the Tahirih Justice Center who is currently in Mexico City providing consultations to adults and children in the caravan, said:
Yesterday, we met a significant number of transgender women, pregnant women, and children traveling without their parents, many of whom appear to be eligible for asylum based on their past persecution. We met people fleeing violence, including a police officer, his wife and two children who were threatened by his own colleagues and the gangs for refusing to join a corruption scheme; a gay man who has suffered years of persecution because of his sexuality; and a transgendered couple who have been shot at and threatened. This group is representative of many migrants seeking asylum in the United States and deserve the protections of our established laws.

In addition to limiting the number of people eligible for asylum, this proclamation paves the way for the prolonged, indefinite detention of asylum seekers. Increased detention further traumatizes those fleeing persecution and makes it more difficult to access legal representation and community support. The only beneficiaries of indefinite detention are private prison companies and the President’s political agenda.

Julie Pasch, Managing Attorney with HILSC’s Deportation Defense Houston, a project that provides legal representation to immigrants in four Houston-area detention centers, said:
It is difficult to win an asylum case because asylum law is extraordinarily complex and it nearly impossible to navigate the immigration court process alone. The Administration is using the fact that many asylum claims end up being ‘non-meritorious’ as justification for this policy change, but in fact, the two biggest factors determining whether an asylum claim is granted by an immigration judge is whether the person is represented and whether they are in immigration detention. Asylum-seekers who are detained and not represented by an attorney win their cases only about four percent of the time.

The Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative stands with asylum-seekers and refugees in opposition to this action by the Trump Administration. We urge Houstonians to speak out against these policies by calling their members of Congress. Individuals, including attorneys, can volunteer with our partner organizations. We also welcome donations supporting legal representation for asylum seekers in the greater Houston region.

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Statement from HILSC regarding Public Charge

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The Trump administration proposes sweeping changes that endanger the lives of immigrant families, including families with children born in the United States. The proposed “public charge” rule changes would strongly prejudice immigration pathways toward higher-income people, while raising new high barriers for prospective immigrants if they have lower incomes, or have used government benefits.

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The Flores Settlement – What it is and how to protect it

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On September 7, 2018 the Trump Administration published a draft of new regulations concerning the detention of families which, if finalized, will increase family detention and eliminate protections for children who arrive with their parents. You can take action!

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Statement from HILSC Organizations on Family Separation & Detention

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Detention of Asylum Seeking Families is an Abuse of Justice

Houston legal services providers and allies condemn the crisis manufactured by Trump administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy; Call on local, state and federal officials to block the indefinite detention of asylum seekers through family detention.

June 22, 2018– Tuesday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner publicly opposed a new Houston immigrant children’s facility. The Mayor joins calls by Houston immigrants, legal advocates and service providers to local officials, state representatives, and members of Congress to take explicit action to block considerations for any new immigrant child facilities that are a result of the family separation policy. The proposed facility is the result of the federal practice of tearing apart and imprisoning asylum-seeking families, a practice condemned by the immigrant community, advocates, and people of conscience.

On Wednesday, President Trump signed an executive order that purports to solve the self-made family separation crisis by detaining families together, a tactic that causes irreparable harm to traumatized children and their parents, who are seeking asylum in the U.S. It is not only immoral, but unlawful and would be in violation of the Flores Settlement of 1997 by allowing the indefinite detention of asylum seeking children.

Kate Vickery, Executive Director, HILSC, said:

“We are in the midst of a manufactured crisis that is creating a false need for new Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelter in Houston. While the service providers stand ready to help families impacted by family separation and we welcome these families in Houston, we reject the notion that we should enable the build-out of the detention system.

This week, the Mayor seemed to suggest he would be okay with parents and children being detained together, but we strongly believe that asylum seekers should never be imprisoned while seeking refuge in the United States. The detention of families is in the same toolkit as separating families: both are cruel tactics designed to deter immigrants from exercising their rights under national and international law to seek asylum.”

Detention is the biggest hindrance to the exercise of  due process rights by immigrants pursuing legal status in the United States. In Houston, only 13% of detained immigrants have legal representation compared to 69% of non-detained immigrants. Detention facilities are far away from Houston (Conroe, Livingston), attorneys wait for hours to see their clients, and have to speak to their clients through thick plexiglass, which makes basic communication, interpretation, and document signing difficult. When an asylum seeker has legal representation, they are 14 times more likely to win their case.

We  stand opposed to the detention of asylum seekers and call on Congress, the State of Texas, and the City of Houston to not only oppose family separation and family detention, but the detention of asylum seekers in general.

To learn more about HILSC and its program to provide representation to detained families, visit www.houstonimmigration.org/deportation-defense-houston/

 

Organizations and individuals aligned with this statement include:

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

BakerRipley

YMCA Greater Houston

Houston Endowment

The Simmons Foundation

The Alliance

RAICES

Texas Organizing Project

PAIR – Partnership for the Advancement & Immersion of Refugees

Hindus of Greater Houston

Sikhs of Houston

The Jung Center Houston

The Anti-Defamation League, Southwest Region

United We Dream

Kids in Need of Defense

Fe y Justicia Worker Center

Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights

Center for Advancing Innovative Policy

Tahirih Justice Center

Refugee Services of Texas

Daya

Emgage Texas

TMO, The Metropolitan Organization

Migrant Rights Collective

Justice for Our Neighbors – Houston

The Montrose Center

La Unidad 11

Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS)

Mi Familia Vota

Bonding Against Adversity

Galveston’s Adverse Childhood and Community Experiences Collaborative

Human Rights First

Chinese Community Center

Access Justice Houston

FAM Houston

OCA Greater Houston

Casa Juan Diego: The Houston Catholic Worker

Pantsuit Republic

Indivisible Houston

Black Lives Matter Houston

Montgomery County Women’s Center

Antena Houston

The Modi Law Firm

Pamela Fulbright-Scheyer, Attorney at Law

Teresa Messer, Law Office of Teresa Messer

Justine K. Fanarof, JD, MPH

Bekhal Saeed-Houston

Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services

Geoffrey Hoffman, Attorney at Law

Virginia C. Angel, JD, MA, LPC

Ruby L. Powers, Powers Law Group, P.C.

Brenda Kirk , Bibles Badges and Business for Immigration Reform

Rosemary Vega, Attorney at Law

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Mayor Joins Houston Immigrants & Advocates Call for End to Family Separations & Blocking of New Immigrant Child Facilities

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Condemn the crisis manufactured by Trump administration “Zero Tolerance” policy; Call on local, state and federal officials to block abusive conditions and family separation

Houston, TX – Today, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner publicly opposed a new Houston immigrant children’s facility. The mayor joins calls by Houston immigrants, legal advocates and service providers to local officials, state representatives, and members of Congress to take explicit action to block considerations for any new immigrant child facilities. The proposed facility is the result of the new federal practice of tearing apart and imprisoning asylum-seeking families, a practice condemned by the immigrant community, advocates and people of conscience.

Kate Vickery, Executive Director, HILSC, said:

“We are in the midst of a manufactured crisis that is creating a false need for a new Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelter in Houston. While the service providers stand ready to help families impacted by family separation and we welcome these families in Houston, we reject the notion that we should enable the build-out of the detention system. The Mayor seemed to suggest he would be okay with parents and children being detained together, but we strongly believe that asylum seekers should never be imprisoned while seeking refuge in the United States, and separating children from their parents is a cruel tactic to deter immigrants from exercising their rights to seek asylum.”

Damaris Gonzalez, Lead organizer, United We Dream Houston, said:

“There are children in detention facilities left to fend for themselves, trembling and traumatized, because of an administration that has chosen to pull them from the arms of their parents to make a political statement. Children will not be used as pawns, and Houston will not allow kidnappers to set up in our city and continue destroying families. We call on Harris County and Texas leadership to take any and all action against facilities like this that exist solely because the Trump administration has made the callous and unthinkable decision to separate and imprison families seeking refuge from terror. Families deserve to be reunited immediately and granted the asylum they seek. Family destruction is what happens when ICE and CBP continue to go unchecked and they must be abolished now.”

Claudia Aguirre, President and CEO, BakerRipley (formerly Neighborhood Centers, Inc.), said:

“BakerRipley does not support families being torn apart who are fleeing to our southern border for safety. Our organization is committed to providing direct legal representation to separated families housed in Houston area detention centers. And we are working with state-wide and national coalitions to educate the community about the impacts of this policy.  BakerRipley will continue to advocate for the families who come to this region – taking action to keep welcome alive. As a nation, we desperately need sensible and comprehensive immigration reform. We need pragmatic solutions to address this issue- end the immediate cruelty to children and deal fairly and justly with people seeking asylum.”

Astrid Dominguez, Director, ACLU Border Rights Center, said:

“We stand firm with Mayor Turner in his opposition to President Trump’s monstrous and morally irredeemable family separation policy, and we will continue to work until that policy is consigned to the scrap heap of history where it belongs.”

Mary Moreno, communications director of the Texas Organizing Project, said:

“On a day when we’re celebrating the delayed ending of slavery in Texas, Juneteenth, it’s heartbreaking that we’re still fighting for liberation, and even sadder that it’s the liberation of children. This is America’s eternal struggle, living up to its values. Although we have never achieved that aspiration of equality and fairness for all, we’ve never stopped fighting, hoping. Today, we stand with Mayor Turner in rejecting Trump’s manufactured crisis, and stand with the immigrants who are running from danger and despair.”

Daniel J. Cohen, President, Indivisible Houston, said:

“Accepting the overflow from Trump’s concentration camps and housing them on Emancipation Avenue, down the street from Minute Maid Park, home of the world champion Houston Astros, is the most unwelcoming, anti-family statement Houston could possibly make. The People are rightfully enraged by the murder, mass trials, and terrorizing of communities and anti-Constitutional commoditization of children for political gain. We are organized to fight the deportation machine.”

Mario Salinas, Civic Engagement Coordinator, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, said:

“This is a manufactured crisis resulting from the administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy, which has seen a record number of children stripped from their loved ones and put into rushed facilities, that may not be equipped to deal with their needs. The trauma these children are experiencing could be lessened by the administration today. Yet they choose to play political games with young people who are seeking refuge in a nation that was once known for compassionate values. We, as the most diverse city in the nation, must fight back.”

Natalia Cornelio, Criminal Justice Reform Director with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said:

“Every day, since May 2018, the federal government has been arresting migrating families and taking children away from their parents along the U.S.-Mexico border.  Thousands of children have been taken from their parents under this policy.   This is unprecedented, unnecessary, and cruel. We oppose this unconscionable policy, and we must oppose the building of additional facilities that enable it to continue. Thank you, Mayor Turner, for taking a step in the right direction on this national, humanitarian crisis.  We hope that our other local, state, and national leaders join you, that this policy stops immediately, and that the separated families be reunited at once.”

The Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative (HILSC) is a consortium of immigration legal services providers and immigrant rights advocates and stakeholders. More information  is available at www.houstonimmigration.org.

Additional information about United We Dream is available at unitedwedream.org  

Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris and Bexar counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.

 

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Family separation support services

How to Help: Family Separation Edition

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FAMILY SEPARATION RESOURCES

In May, the Trump Administration announced a new “zero tolerance” policy, which has resulted in the criminal prosecution of thousands of individuals seeking asylum. While the adults are jailed and prosecuted, their children are ripped away and put into Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters, which are now overrun with very young children who have become “unaccompanied,” despite the fact that they came seeking asylum with a parent. More than 2,300 children have been separated from their parents, including infants. This is cruel, inhumane, and exceptionally harmful for already traumatized families. As a result of this policy, new shelters for children have opened near El Paso and one is proposed for downtown Houston* for “tender age” children under 12. On June 20th, Mayor Sylvester Turner came out strongly opposed to the family separation policy and indicated that the city would do everything it could to stop any new shelters for separated children in Houston.

On June 20, President Trump signed an executive order that orders the detention of families who enter the United States seeking asylum to be detained in family detention centers while they fight their asylum cases. HILSC and partners decry the use of family detention, which further traumatizes children and asylum seekers. While the active policy of separating families has stopped, there is no plan or system to reunite the thousands already separated. Most recently, a federal judge in California ordered the government to reunite parents with their children aged under five within 14 days, all others within 30 days, and prohibits parents from being deported without their children. Here are a few ways you can work to fight these policies and their impact locally.

Read our statement condemning family separation and family detention, signed by many members of our community and its allies here. 

*We will keep this page updated with information as it becomes available. 

GIVE

Support the organizations that provide direct legal services to unaccompanied and separated children and their parents, helping them reunite. In Houston those organizations are:

Around the state, these organizations are providing direct services to separated children:

Support leaders of local advocacy through litigation

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