An audio recording, released today by Human Rights First, indisputably shows U.S. border officials illegally turning away vulnerable asylum seekers. It illustrates a disturbing pattern of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents breaking U.S. law by rejecting potential refugees. Human Rights First did not make the recording, advocates provided it to us because of our ongoing reporting on these violations.
“Okay, they gotta go to INM [the Mexican immigration enforcement agency] and register first. They can't come in here.” This statement by a CBP supervisor to asylum seekers, recorded in February, is illegal.
“I told them to go to INM. That is the process they have to go through, ok?” the same CBP supervisor repeats to the U.S. advocate trying to assist two asylum seeking families. But this so-called process is a charade, a convenient excuse for turning away asylum seekers at the Southern California port.
In the summer of 2016, U.S. and Mexican officials established a temporary system to address the arrival of large numbers of Haitians at the ports of entry in the San Diego border sector. Mexican officials began to issue “appointments” to Haitian migrants to present themselves to U.S. authorities at a future day and time. Lawyers and shelter staff in Tijuana report that INM never issued appointments to Central American and other asylum seekers, but CBP told many that the appointments are required to seek asylum in the United States.
In an interview published this week, an INM representative told a reporter in Tijuana that the system was a response to an “extraordinary migration event,” the arrival of thousands of Haitians, and that it was “phased out by last November as the number of Haitians in Tijuana diminished.” The head of INM in Tijuana made a similar statement in January to the Washington Post.
In the recording, the advocate explains that the families could not get an appointment with Mexican authorities, and that they had already attempted it. The CBP officer tells the U.S. advocate, “Sir, you're wasting your time, ok? They aren't going to come in so you're wasting your time.”
Since February 2017, Human Rights First has investigated cases of turn backs along the border and documented over 125 incidents of CBP agents illegally rejecting asylum seekers at seven ports of entry. In its May 2017 report, Crossing the Line, researchers found that some CBP officers lied to asylum seekers, making statements such as, “the United States is not giving asylum anymore,” “Trump says we don’t have to let you in,” and, “the U.S. is not processing asylum for people from your country anymore.” One agent told a family pleading for protection, “If you don’t leave I will have to use force to remove you.”
Other organizations, including Amnesty International, have similarly documented cases of CBP agents violating U.S. law and treaty obligations by turning away asylum seekers. In its June 2017 report, Amnesty International concluded that evidence suggests illegal turn backs continue “on a frequent basis.”
This week, the American Immigration Council, along with the Center for Constitutional Rights and Latham & Watkins, LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CBP for refusing to process arriving asylum seekers. "Donald Trump just signed new laws saying there is no asylum for anyone," CBP agents told some asylum seekers according to the complaint filed in a U.S. District Court in California. Plaintiffs include six recently rejected asylum seekers from Mexico and the Northern Triangle, who, like the families in the audio recording, sought safety in the United States but found none.
DHS and CBP leadership—now under suit for their failure to ensure adherence to the law—should immediately issue directives to their employees reminding them of their duty to protect and process asylum seekers at U.S. borders.
The audio recording we released today, the robust documentation of CBP agents' illegal conduct, and new lawsuits against the relevant agencies, warrant answers. The United States should follow its own laws and procedures to ensure it does not cause future persecution by rejecting and removing those pleading for protection at its door. Front line agents are the face of America's ideals for those arriving at its borders, the gatekeepers to safety only the United States can provide. They must be held to standards the law requires.