Status of Asylum Seekers at the U.S.-Mexico Border and Beyond

Status of Asylum Seekers at the U.S.-Mexico Border and Beyond

By Cliff DuRand

 

The immigration situation at the U.S. border is a picture of cruelty. Children locked in cages, families separated, imprisonment for months in detention centers, asylum seekers forced to wait in squalid conditions for a hearing. Such inhumanity shocks the conscience of a nation. Then there is the irony that immigrants who have found work in the U.S. are now often classified as “essential workers” even though their pay is low and they are vulnerable to deportation. This Sept. 7, Labor Day, we ought to also honor these workers and would-be workers.

 

Immigration attorney Rebecca N. Eichler will update us on the situation at the border. She has 20 years of experience as an immigration attorney working with clients from around the world seeking protection under U.S. and international law. She currently lives and works in Mexico as a human rights advocate. Through her work with deportees from the U.S. and migrants at the U.S. border, she has gained a unique perspective on the systemic human rights abuses perpetrated by the Trump administration and its violations of U.S. immigration law and international asylum obligations.

 

Working with non-governmental organizations on the ground in Mexico, Ms. Eichler has aided deported Mexicans and their U.S. citizen families in coping with their expulsion from the U.S. and establishing legal status in Mexico, a country where, despite their Mexican heritage, many have never lived. She spearheaded the Guanajuato and Queretaro states’ legal aid response to the Central American caravans transiting through Mexico in fall 2018, assembling a team of lawyers and providing individual legal consultations and know-your-rights presentations to hundreds of migrants on what to expect at the U.S. border. Ms. Eichler advised individuals, including unaccompanied minors, waiting at the border in Tijuana and Matamoros on the legal requirements of asylum in the U.S. and mentally and physically prepared and walked with children to present themselves for U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention.

 

The Center for Global Justice is proud to present this talk by such a dedicated attorney as Rebecca Eichler. This webinar is part of a weekly series on a variety of social issues featuring thought-provoking thinkers. The Center for Global Justice is devoted to research and learning for a better world. We offer these webinars every Monday at 1pm Tune in at www.globaljusticecenter.org. You can also view past programs there.