Asylum seekers will have to wait in Mexico (Dec. 21, 2018)

The U.S. announced that it will require people seeking asylum at its southwest border to wait in Mexico for a court ruling on their cases -- which could take months or years. U.S.Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told lawmakers of the House Judiciary Committee about the plan yesterday, and said it could be implemented within days. DHS officials later said it goes into effect immediately. Immigrant advocates and human rights experts immediately denounced that the change is illegal and violates asylum seekers' rights. 

(New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, CNN)

The policy will apply to migrants from Central American countries who request humanitarian protections at U.S. border crossings, as well as those who enter the country illegally. DHS officials say migrants who establish a fear of harm if they stay in Mexico will be allowed to enter the United States. Nielsen said the new policy will not apply to Central American unaccompanied children, who have some special protections under U.S. law.

Discussions between the two countries over the change of policy have taken place over weeks, though Mexico says change is a unilateral U.S. decision. The Mexican government said was informed of the change just yesterday. But the change comes just days after the U.S. $10.6 billion in aid for Central America and southern Mexico, in response to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's call for development programs to stop illegal migration. (See Wednesday's post.) 

Mexican officials said they will permit the U.S. to send back asylum seekers who have illegally crossed the border, and will provide them with work visas and humanitarian assistance. It is not clear where they will be housed or what resources will be made available. There are currently about 9,000 migrants awaiting asylum processing at the border with the U.S., reports El País.

Yesterday Mexico's migration agency said it didn't have the capacity to receive the U.S. asylum seekers and that the change will require a regulatory framework or legislative reform in Mexico. (Animal Político) Already humanitarian asylum applications in Mexico have increased exponentially as migrants seek alternatives to the U.S. "But for most Central Americans, Mexico really isn’t a country of destination. It’s a country of last resort," according to World Politics Review.

The proposal raises significant safety concerns. Migrant advocates say the measure will deter people legitimately fleeing for their lives. Mexican cities along the U.S. border are already extremely unsafe for migrants who are increasingly targeted by criminal groups, reports the Washington Post. Last week two Honduran youths staying in a Tijuana youth shelter were killed. (See Wednesday's post.) “Make no mistake — Mexico is not a safe country for all people seeking protection,” said Amnesty International Executive Director Margaret Huang.

U.S. officials said the Mexican government will allow asylum seekers access to U.S. immigration lawyers, but it was unclear where attorneys and their clients would meet, reports the Associated Press. They would be allowed into the U.S. for their court hearings.

Critics predict legal challenges in the U.S. will focus on the potential violation of Congress' intent to allow asylum seekers into the U.S. and international conventions that prohibit governments from returning refugees to places where they face a threat to their life or freedom.

About 75 percent of asylum seekers pass initial screening in the U.S., and are typically released to await court hearings which can take years. Only nine percent of cases are eventually granted asylum however, notes the Associated Press. Nielsen said there is a backlog of 786,000 asylum cases in the U.S., and that most are unfounded.

News Briefs

More from Mexico

• Mexico's polemic National Guard plan passed its first congressional hurdle yesterday, in a seven hour session of the lower house marked by conflict, reports Animal Político. Modifications included by members of the lower house include civilian command of new force, which would include members of the armed forces.

Venezuela

• It is unlikely that Lima Group countries will totally break of diplomatic relations with Venezuela ahead of President Nicolás Maduro's second mandate, which will begin Jan. 10, reports David Smilde in the Venezuela Weekly. However, preliminary meetings this week in Bogotá reached a consensus that there has been a break in democratic order in Venezuela, according to some reports. Smilde emphasizes that Mexico sent a representative to the meeting, a sign that the new López Obrador administration will continue to participate in the Lima Group, though it maintains relations with Venezuela and rejects intervention.

• This week Brazilian president-elect Jair Bolsonaro said he would take all action “within the rule of law and democracy” to oppose the governments of Venezuela and Cuba, reports Reuters.

El Salvador

• Audios reveal how former Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes' political operators conspired to attack political opponents, bribe, and manipulate prosecutors. The group plotted to illegally obtain classified material to use against former president Francisco Flores, reports Factum.

Nicaragua

• Ortega has "won" in the sense that he has effectively silenced street protests, and is cracking down on remaining voices of dissent. But the victory is pyrrhic and comes at a heavy economic cost in addition to the human toll, writes Kenneth M. Coleman at the AULA blog.

Colombia

• Splinter FARC groups are growing in Colombia though intelligence groups differ as to the exact numbers, reports InSight Crime.

Brazil

• Brazil's prosecutor general charged President Michel Temer with corruption and money laundering, the third time he is accused in relation to port concessions, reports Al Jazeera.

• Brazilian police raided the home of the Science and Technology minister, following accusations that he received as much as $13.8 million in exchange for defending the interests of JBS food company during his tenures as mayor of Sao Paulo and as a congressman, reports the Associated Press.

• Brazilian authorities believe Rio de Janeiro councillor Marielle Franco was killed by a local illicit militia concerned about her potential to encroach on their land claims. (See Tuesday's briefs.) But its impossible to verify the revelations, which are politically timely, notes InSight Crime.
• Bolsonaro's unexpected intellectual guru is Olavo de Carvalho, a 71-year-old who lives in the U.S. and champions individual liberties and Christianity, reports Americas Quarterly.

Chile

• Chilean President Sebastián Piñera said the country's police chief and 10 other police commanders should resign following the widely protested killing of a Mapuche indigenous young man last month. He promised to to act against police officers responsible for the "credibility crisis," reports the BBC.

Argentina

• Argentine President Mauricio Macri froze funding for the Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense (EAAF). The cuts will affect the group's efforts to identify the remains of soldiers in unmarked graves in the Falklands/Malvinas, but not work in other countries which are financed by U.S. and European NGOs and government institutions, reports the Guardian.

• Argentina is officially in recession, after its economy shrank by 3.5 per cent during the third trimester of 2018. (AFP)

• This week the IMF approved the release of $7.6 billion to Argentina's government, bringing total disbursements so far to $20.21 billion. It also suggested capping public sector pay increases at 25 percent next year, rather than 34 percent as projected in the budget. (Reuters and Associated Press)

• A new CEPR report argues that the policies that the IMF and Argentina's government agreed "are not worth the risks and human costs that they introduce."

Did I miss something, get something wrong, or do you have a different take? Let me know ...

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