Joint Statement to Mexican Authorities on Access to Asylum at the Border

Osorio Chong, Secretary of Governance
Ardelio Vargas Fosado, Comissioner of the National Migration Institute
Luis Raúl González Pérez, President of the National Commission of Human Rights
To civil society
To the media

The below signing organizations have learned of and presented complaints about the following issues:

People who are fleeing from their country and seek protection in the United States are being turned away by Mexican and US authorities. In cities such as Tijuana, Mexicali and Nogales, people seeking asylum are rejected by US authorities if they do not appear on the lists controlled by the National Institute of Migration in Mexico. It is illegal for Mexican authorities to control who can or cannot present themselves on the southern border of the United States to ask for asylum. Mexican authorities do not have the ability or training to participate in the process and, when they do so, commit serious errors and violations of migrants’ human rights.

These actions restrict access to the right to seek asylum, which is protected by international conventions and treaties. The denial of this right creates heightened risk and vulnerability for people who are at the border seeking asylum, because Mexican migration authorities do not allow asylum-seekers who do not have a legal immigration status in Mexico to add their names to the lists, threatening them with deportation and, in some cases, say that they will be turned over to police.

This practice affects Central Americans, Mexicans and Africans, adults travelling alone as well as families and unaccompanied minors. The fact that they are forced to remain in border cities for longer, without legal status, exposes them to kidnapping and extortion, since there are not adequate mechanisms to protect them. Moreover, it leads migrants to take greater risks in an attempt to arrive to the United States as they face the danger of crossing the desert and contact organized criminal networks in order to cross.

We denounce Mexican and US authorities for their role in these anti-refugee policies as they deny individuals and families the right to protection and asylum.

As civil society and defenders of the rights of migrants, we call on the National Migration Institute in Mexico to create a mechanism that protects the rights of people seeking asylum and protection during their displacement. We ask the National Migration Institute to grant temporary legal status to all people who arrive at the border to ask for asylum in the United States.

Contacts for Media:

Fr. Pat Murphy (Vice-president of the Coalición Pro Defensa Migrante, Tijuana): 01 (664) 682-5180 / 01 (664) 382-7685 / casadelmigrantetijuana@gmail.com

Fr. Álvaro Salvador Gutiérrez (Coordinator of Human Mobility in the Diocese of Mexicali): 01-686-5616029 / elpadrematrix@hotmail.com

Marla Conrad (Co-coordinator of the Network of Migrant Shelters and Human Rights Centers in the Northern Region, Nogales): 01-631-316-2086 / marlaconrad@gmail.com

Signed by   Coalición Pro Defensa del Migrante | Juntos en el Camino | Casa Migrante Maná | Casa del Migrante la Divina Providencia | Centro Comunitario de Ayuda a Migrantes | Centro Comunitario de Atención al Migrante y Necesitado | Iniciativa Kino | Comedor Guadalupano | Centro de Recursos para Migrantes | Casa de Atención al Migrante Éxodus | Derechos Humanos Integrales en Acción | Uno de Siete Migrando | Casa Migrante Nazaret | Casa Monarca | Casa Nicolás | Casa del Forastero Santa Martha | Frontera con Justicia A.C. [Casa del Migrante de Saltillo] | Casa del Peregrino | Casa Emmaus: Casa del Emigrante | Albergue Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe | Albergue Senda de Vida | Casa San Juan Diego y San Francisco de Asís