Reporting on February 2, 2023, the Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI), which maintains a migrant shelter in Nogales, Sonora, stated, “Over the past 2 weeks, 5 people reported being expelled or deported between 10 pm and 5 am, most of whom had to sleep on the street.”
— “Early February Update on Asylum, Border, and Deportations from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, February 2, 2023).
Reporting on January 5, 2023, the Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI) recounted CBP’s repeated use of Title 42 to expel a Venezuelan mother and child who had been kidnapped in Mexico.
Reina [name changed to protect privacy] fled Venezuela to save herself and her son after her husband and brother were killed. In Mexico, the mafia forced them off of the bus they were traveling on and kidnapped them for 15 days until her niece in the US could pay the ransom fee. They have tried twice to cross into the US and CBP expelled them twice, which puts them in danger of the mafia targeting them yet again.
— “January 5th Update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, January 5, 2023).
Reporting on January 5, 2023, the Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI) stated, “Kino continues to receive many reports of abuse by Border Patrol and ICE. Over the past 3 weeks, Kino received 10 reports of night-time expulsions between 12 and 5 am.”
Over the past 3 weeks, 5 people reported having to sleep on the street due to being deported between 1 and 4 am.
Uriel [name changed to protect privacy] was deported at 1 am and slept on the street outside the Mexican Immigration Institute in the cold until Grupos Beta (the humanitarian arm of Mexican immigration) could help him in the morning.
— “January 5th Update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, January 5, 2023).
The Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI) recounted the experience of Leticia [name changed to protect privacy], a Mexican migrant who sought asylum in the United States after she and her husband spent a month in captivity, kidnapped for ransom by organized crime.
After crossing and entering Border Patrol custody, KBI reported, “US agents asked Leticia and her husband 10 questions during about 10 minutes about why they came to the US. Despite explaining the persecution they fled in Guerrero and the hostage situation they had just escaped, CBP expelled them back across the border to the same area where they had been held hostage with no explanation.”
— “Early November Update on the Border, Asylum and Deportations from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, November 10, 2022).
“Over the past 2 weeks,” reported the Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI), “KBI recorded 13 cases of BP [Border Patrol] taking personal belongings and never returning them (an issue highlighted in the recent NGO letter to CBP Commissioner Magnus), 4 cases of physical abuse and mistreatment, 2 cases of deportations in the middle of the night and 2 cases of medical neglect.”
— “Early October Update on Asylum, Border, and Deportations from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, October 13, 2022).
The Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI) related the expulsion of a protection-seeking Mexican family that had just suffered an armed assault.
Before Nicolas [name changed to protect privacy] , his wife and children crossed into the US, they suffered an armed assault in Nogales, Sonora. They sought asylum with a BP official who told him they would be able to seek asylum, but shortly after, expelled them without explanation and without channeling them to a fear interview. On the bus that took them back to Nogales, Nicolas approached an agent and said he couldn’t go back to his country, that they would kill him, but the agent responded, “I don’t care; go back to your country.” CBP then expelled Nicolas and his family back to where they had just been assaulted.
— “September 15 update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, September 15, 2022).
“In the past 2 weeks, Kino has served 16 people that DHS has deported between 12 am and 3 am,” the Nogales, Arizona-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI) reported on August 18.
Esmeralda [name changed to protect privacy] fled violence in Nicaragua and entered the US to request asylum, she was forced to wait in Mexico under MPP, due to the dangers and inhuman conditions on the Mexican northeast border, she tried to request asylum again in Arizona, Border Patrol expelled her to Nogales at midnight, upon which Mexican police robbed her.
— “August 18 Update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, August 18, 2022).
“In the past 2 weeks, Kino has served 16 people that DHS has deported between 12 am and 3 am,” the Nogales, Arizona-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI) reported on August 18.
Julia [name changed to protect privacy] and her 7 year old daughter fled Guerrero due to threats of sexual violence toward herself and her daughter. When they crossed into the US, BP detained them and Julia explained she wanted to seek asylum due to violence in Mexico. But BP just took their bio information, without asking further inquiring about their fear, and deported them to Mexico at 3 a.m., placing Julia and her daughter in danger of potentially experiencing the very sexual violence they were fleeing.
— “August 18 Update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, August 18, 2022).
Data obtained by the Cato Institute show that, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, CBP personnel have used the Title 42 health provision to expel thousands of families with toddlers and babies into Mexico in the post-midnight hours, despite safety risks. The statistics “show that as of May 31, CBP had used its Title 42 ‘health’ authority to expel 30,806 children ages 3 and under—with about 41 percent of these expulsions occurring at midnight or later,” noted a blog post from Cato’s associate director of immigration studies, David Bier.
Under normal circumstances, CBP’s repatriation agreements with Mexico prohibit removals to Mexican border towns between 10:00 PM and 5:00 AM, except under emergency circumstances. Title 42 expulsions have occurred without regard to these repatriation restrictions. “The Biden Administration is actually expelling more children at night than even the Trump Administration did,” Cato noted.
— David J. Bier, “CBP Is Expelling Thousands of Infants and Toddlers to Mexico After Midnight” (Washington: Cato at Liberty, August 1, 2022) https://www.cato.org/blog/cbp-expelling-thousands-infants-toddlers-mexico-after-midnight.
The Nogales, Arizona-based Kino Border Initiative (KBI) reported that “Border Patrol agents continue to use COVID as a pretext to expel or deport migrants at night, despite previous Local Repatriation Agreements developed for migrant safety.”
* Testimony from arriving migrants and Kino staff confirm that hundreds of migrants have been expelled to Nogales, Mexico between 12AM and 3AM during the last two weeks.
* Individuals arriving at Kino earlier this week after being deported at 3AM reported that they had not slept since they were detained.
* Eliseo [Name changed to protect privacy], a middle-aged Mexican man who wanted to seek work in the US so he could save up to return to his hometown and finish constructing a church there, was deported to Mexico with a group of migrants around midnight. Since he did not have anywhere to go, he and about a dozen other migrants slept in the park downtown.
— “June 23 Update on Asylum, Border, and Deportations from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, June 23, 2022).
The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) reported about a man whom Border Patrol injured and expelled into Mexico near Nogales, Arizona:
Last week, a Border Patrol agent ran over Marco Antonio (not real name), a Guatemalan national, with his four-wheeler before pushing him to the ground and detaining him. The BP agent first hit him with the front bumper and then ran over his right leg with one of the front wheels. Another BP agent realized that Marco Antonio could not walk, and so picked him up and carried him to another four-wheeler to transport him to the hospital. At the hospital, Marco Antonio was treated for severe dehydration and a dislocated knee joint. Hours later, he was transported to the border in Nogales, where they arrived around noon. Mexican immigration officials refused to accept him because of his condition, as he was unable to walk. Border Patrol then drove him back to the station, and later that day, they took him back to Nogales, where they expelled him on or after 10PM, when there were no Mexican authorities to receive him.
— “April 14 Update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, April 14, 2022).
The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) reported about two Guatemalan men who were expelled to Nogales, Mexico in the middle of the night:
Pablo and William (not real names) arrived at Kino the morning after Border Patrol agents expelled them to Nogales, México. They are both Guatemalan nationals, and had originally crossed in another location, and so were unfamiliar with the area. They both reported that they were expelled around 2 in the morning. As they did not have anywhere to go, they spent the night out in the open, trying to sleep on the ground, and without anything to protect themselves from the cold. Pablo is an older man, while William is in his early twenties. Pablo indicated that when Border Patrol detained him, he requested medical attention as he felt severely dehydrated. Although he complained to Border Patrol of chest pains and a headache, his request was ignored. It was only after he arrived to Kino that he was finally able to receive medical assistance.
— “April 14 Update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, April 14, 2022).
The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) reported about expulsions of women and minors in the middle of the night in Nogales:
KBI staff also received reports that Border Patrol expelled dozens of migrants over these last few days at around 2AM. Despite the fact that local CBP officials assured KBI staff that they would not expel women, minors or other groups that would be particularly at risk during the night, the group expelled on Sunday at 1AM included both women and minors.
— “April 14 Update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, April 14, 2022).
“Border Patrol continues to expel people into Nogales, Sonora at night under the pretext of public safety,” the Kino Border Initiative (KBI) reported.
Last weekend KBI staff were made aware that dozens of migrants were expelled to Nogales, Sonora around midnight.
This week a Honduran man reported that he was expelled to Nogales, MX with a group of migrants at around 10PM. At that time, there were no humanitarian services available. Since they did not know the city and had no money, the group was forced to sleep outside next to the train tracks.
— “March 17 Update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, March 17, 2022).
A January 2022 Human Rights First report discussed examples of CBP’s implementation of “Remain in Mexico” (RMX) involving separation of family members, non-return of belongings, and dangerous returns.
CBP officers are separating some RMX returnees from family members. The Border Project identified approximately 10 RMX returnees who had been separated from spouses or adult children. One man who was returned to Mexico under RMX told the Border Project that he had been separated from his wife, who is six-months pregnant and suffers from epilepsy and asthma. A Venezuelan asylum seeker told Human Rights First that he had been separated from his adult brother and uncle. In addition, CBP is returning individuals without their belongings and dressed in identical clothing that would make them readily identifiable as migrants. Multiple individuals reported to Human Rights First that CBP officers discarded their personal possessions and that they were returned to Ciudad Juárez in December 2021 under RMX without their clothing, shoes, coats, or medication among other personal items – in violation of CBP’s detention standards (original link). As a result, RMX returnees were forced to wear CBP-issued sweatsuits as they were returned to Ciudad Juárez, and on one occasion, Human Rights First researchers also observed RMX returnees wearing CBP-issued flip flops despite temperatures dipping to 40°F that day.
— A Shameful Record: Biden Administration’s Use of Trump Policies Endangers People Seeking Asylum (New York: Human Rights First: January 13, 2022) https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/shameful-record-biden-administration-s-use-trump-policies-endangers-people-seeking-asylum.
The Kino Border Initiative reported:
A young Guatemalan man who was recently expelled to Nogales, Sonora had tried to cross into the US to seek asylum after fleeing threats from extortionists in his hometown. He fell and injured his knee while traveling in the desert. Although he reported his injury to immigration officials, he was not offered medical attention. He was expelled to Nogales at 3AM, where he spent the night exposed in the plaza downtown until the sun came up.
— “January 6 Update from KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, January 6, 2021).
In the January 8, 2022 San Diego Union-Tribune, reporter Kate Morrissey recounted the experience of two Colombian men who, on January 5, were the first to be sent back to Tijuana under the revived “Remain in Mexico” program. She found that what they underwent “included many of the issues that plagued the program under the Trump administration.”
The Biden administration’s December 2 guidance for the restarted program promised access to counsel. But Morrissey found that “the two Colombian men were not allowed to speak with attorneys while in U.S. custody.” The wife of one of the men, a green card holder in the United States, could have hired an attorney for him to support his claim of fear of return to Mexico, but officials denied his request to call her.
The men, who had turned themselves in to U.S. personnel in order to seek protection after receiving urgent threats in Colombia, recounted poor treatment in CBP custody. They were placed in a cell in a Border Patrol station with “dozens of other men,” forced to sleep on the floor for nearly a week, with lights always on, for lack of bed space. They were not given an opportunity to bathe or shower. “Though they do not speak much English, they realized that agents were speaking badly about them, they said. They recognized words like ‘stupid’ and phrases like ‘go back to your country.’”
As required by the new guidelines, a Border Patrol agent asked the men if they were afraid to return to Mexico, although they said “another agent tried to keep that official from asking the question.” Under the Biden administration’s new guidance, after expressing fear the men were entitled to 24 hours to contact an attorney before speaking with an asylum officer. It was during those 24 hours, they said, that CBP personnel refused to allow them “to make any calls or otherwise access legal counsel.”
They said an agent told them that no matter what happened, they would be sent back to Mexico. So, when the asylum officer asked if they wanted to wait longer in custody in order to access attorneys, the men waived that right, not wanting to spend more time in the crowded cell with their fate already decided.
The men added that they were not asked detailed questions about their medical history, even though the Biden administration’s new guidelines specify medical conditions for exemption from the program (original link). Though the guidance directs that those subject to Remain in Mexico are to receive COVID-19 vaccinations if they need them, one man who had only received the first of his two shots was sent over the border before officials could administer his vaccine.
CBP meanwhile confused the men’s paperwork, Morrissey found. Each man had the first page of the other’s notice to appear in court. And at first, they were scheduled for hearings months beyond the six-month limit that the Biden administration had agreed with Mexico. They managed to reschedule for February after raising the issue with their asylum officer.
Now in Tijuana, the Colombian men told Morrissey that they are “confused and terrified.” They refused to provide their names, fearing that their notoriety leaves them exposed to extortion or attack. “We’re the two from Colombia,” one said. “Everyone knows we’re them. We already have problems.”
— Kate Morrissey, “U.S. failure to follow Remain in Mexico rules show program hasn’t changed as promised” (San Diego, The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 8, 2022) https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2022-01-08/remain-in-mexico-returns-to-tijuana.
— Robert Silvers, “Guidance regarding the Court-Ordered Reimplementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols” (Washington: Department of Homeland Security, December 2, 2021) https://www.dhs.gov/publication/court-ordered-reimplementation-mpp-policy-guidance.
According to BuzzFeed, CBP officers insisted on expelling back into Mexico, under the Title 42 authority, a Honduran LGBT woman whose spine was fractured in an anti-gay attack in Mexico, and who had also been raped by Mexican police. “The two Honduran women have since been living on the streets of Mexico with no end in sight,” Buzzfeed reported.
— Adolfo Flores, “Biden’s Border Policy Is Trapping LGBTQ Asylum-Seekers In Dangerous Conditions In Mexico” (BuzzFeed, September 16, 2021) https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adolfoflores/lgbt-asylum-seekers-stuck-in-mexico.
“DHS continues to carry out some Title 42 expulsions to dangerous Mexican border cities in the middle of the night, when businesses are closed and humanitarian services are unavailable, increasing the risk that expelled individuals will be attacked,” according to a Human Rights First report.
For example, Border Patrol agents expelled more than 20 people through the DeConcini port of entry to Nogales, Mexico around 2:00 a.m. in late August 2021, leaving them stranded. Several of those expelled told Kino Border Initiative that when they eventually managed to reach a migrant shelter, they were denied entry because they did not have proof of a negative COVID-19 test, which was impossible to obtain in the middle of the night. With no other options, they were forced to spend the night sleeping on the street.
— Julia Neusner, Kennji Kizuka, “Illegal and Inhumane”: Biden Administration Continues Embrace of Trump Title 42 Policy as Attacks on People Seeking Refuge Mount (New York: Human Rights First, October 21, 2021) https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/illegal-and-inhumane-biden-administration-continues-embrace-trump-title-42-policy-attacks.
The Kino Border Initiative reported:
A woman who had severely injured her leg in the desert required emergency medical attention. Border Patrol took her to a hospital where she could be treated, but took her out of the hospital after a day and a half, despite the doctor’s recommendation that she stay for two weeks. Since her clothes were cut to treat her injury, she did not have anything left to wear. BP agents provided her with oversized disposable scrub pants and shirt, and no underwear. They then took her to their processing center, without any consideration for her or her injury. She was expelled into Mexico without proper clothing nor her prescribed medications.
— “August 19 Update From KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, August 19, 2021).
The Kino Border Initiative reported:
ICE continues to transport migrants to Nogales, Sonora for removal from the U.S. at night. The practice places migrants at an unnecessary increased risk of robbery, kidnapping, and other violent crimes, and excludes them from coordination and reception services available for recently removed migrants.
Because of the well- known danger of said practice, Local Repatriation Agreements between U.S. and Mexican authorities prohibited night deportations for years, but since spring of 2020 these removals have occurred very frequently.
KBI staff and migrants have reported nighttime deportations on at least five nights in the last two weeks. Because shelters are closed when migrants are deported or expelled at night, many individuals are forced to sleep outside of the port of entry on benches. One night last week migrants were expelled in the midst of a heavy rain that flooded the streets near the port of entry.
— “July 8 Update From KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, July 8, 2021).
The Kino Border Initiative reported:
While some migrants apprehended at night have reported being detained overnight and deported the following morning, one woman who arrived at our center reported that after turning herself in to Border Patrol in the desert, she was detained overnight then still released into Sonora the following night. By holding the woman overnight in a congregate setting and then expelling her over 24 hours later, Border Patrol makes it clear that nighttime expulsions are not, as they have claimed, for the purpose of avoiding the spread of COVID through prolonged detention in CBP custody.
— “June 10 Update From KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, June 10, 2021).
The Kino Border Initiative (KBI) reported, “Over a dozen migrants who have arrived at KBI in the past two weeks have reported being deported at night, between 10PM and 5AM.”
— “June 10 Update From KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, June 10, 2021).
The Kino Border Initiative reported:
This week a Honduran family of 3 was expelled to Nogales, Sonora at 8PM, when it was already dark. A Mexican police officer allowed them to come into their office and eat some food, and then advised that they walk to the shelter in the dark, which is about a two mile walk. As they walked, a police vehicle stopped them and offered them a ride, expressing their concern that a migrant family would walk through such a dangerous area at night.
— “April 29 Update From KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, April 29, 2021).
The Kino Border Initiative reported:
A young Mexican man expelled under Title 42 this week reported to KBI that Border Patrol agents left them in downtown Nogales, Sonora around 2:30AM. The group was afraid to walk through town at night, so they waited outside by the port of entry without any protection from organized crime groups, which are known to patrol this area, for 4 hours until the sun came up.
— “April 29 Update From KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, April 29, 2021).
