October-November Media Report

Mexican Supreme Court Rules Lack of Guidelines for Migrant Treatment Violates Mexican Law.

The Mexican Supreme Court recently determined that the Mexican government violated Mexican law in their treatment of migrants. In the ruling, they note that the Mexican government failed to produce and publish guidelines for protecting the human rights of migrants forced to wait in Mexico for their U.S. asylum proceedings under Remain in Mexico.

This ruling is an important step towards holding the Mexican government accountable to respecting the rights of migrants stranded at the US-Mexico border. The final decision will be published in the coming months. May it be the beginning of Mexican officials working harder for a world where Migration with Dignity is possible.

The Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración, AC (IMUMI) and La Clínica de Acción Legal, PUDH UNAM brought this challenge in 2020. We congratulate them for their willingness to speak up and their persistence in calling for just, humane, and workable migration. Their efforts paved the way for this ruling!

KBI Featured in Buzzfeed Report on Migrant Deaths

Executive Director Joanna Williams was featured in an investigation into the rising number of migrant deaths along the border. The report noted that “Since October, the start of the 2022 fiscal year, there have been 748 immigrant deaths at the border, CNN reported. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has not officially released the numbers and declined to provide them.” The true figure is likely much higher.

We decry the unjust policies that have pushed migrants into ever more dangerous routes as they seek safety and reunification with their families.

For the first time, the US is a defendant in a Inter-American Commission on Human Rights hearing.

“The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States (OAS) has initiated its first process with the United States as a defendant in the death of a Mexican migrant, Anastasio Hernandez, killed by U.S. immigration agents in 2010 in San Diego.”

Anastasio was brutally killed in San Ysidro by agents of the nation’s largest law enforcement agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Since Anastasio’s death, nearly 250 people have died in encounters with CBP. Not a single agent has ever been convicted for wielding the power of the state to take a life.

The first hearing to determine whether United States law enforcement officials used the power of the state to kill Anastasio, cover it up, and deny the family access to justice, has already begun. We stand in solidarity with Anastasio’s family, and every person who has experienced harm due to excessive force by Border Patrol.