{"id":37353,"date":"2023-12-13T13:38:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T21:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nilc.org\/?p=37353"},"modified":"2023-12-13T13:38:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T21:38:28","slug":"immigrant-rights-groups-demand-accountability-for-gross-violations-of-human-rights-at-open-air-detention-sites-at-u-s-mexico-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nilc.org\/2023\/12\/13\/immigrant-rights-groups-demand-accountability-for-gross-violations-of-human-rights-at-open-air-detention-sites-at-u-s-mexico-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigrant Rights Groups Demand Accountability for ‘Gross Violations of Human Rights’ at Open-Air Detention Sites at U.S.-Mexico Border"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong>
\nDecember 13, 2023<\/p>\n

CONTACT<\/strong>
\nJuan Gastelum, NILC, media@nilc.org<\/a>
\nMelissa Flores, AOL, melissa@alotrolado.org<\/a>
\nLayne Mullett, AFSC, news@afsc.org<\/a>
\nJacqueline Arellano, Border Kindness, jacqueline@borderkindness.org<\/a>
\nBrianna Krong, CGRS, krongbrianna@uclawsf.edu<\/a>
\nSpencer Tilger, IRAP, media@refugeerights.org<\/a>
\nMallory Adamski, SBCC, mallory@alliancesd.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Immigrant Rights Groups Demand Accountability for ‘Gross Violations of Human Rights’ at Open-Air Detention Sites at U.S.-Mexico Border<\/h1>\n

Federal Complaint Details Dangerous Conditions for Asylum Seekers Forcefully Held Outdoors Without Adequate Food, Water, or Medical Care for Several Hours to Days<\/em><\/h3>\n

JACUMBA, Calif. \u2014 Seven immigrant rights organizations lodged an urgent federal complaint<\/a>\u00a0this week against the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and its Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for violating their own custody standards for asylum seekers being held in several open-air detention sites along the U.S.-Mexico border in California. For several months, Border Patrol officers have forced asylum seekers to wait outdoors for several hours or days between sections of the San Diego border walls and other open-air sites in the Jacumba desert where they aren\u2019t allowed to leave and don\u2019t have adequate access to water, food, sanitation, medical care, or protection from the elements.<\/p>\n

The 88-page complaint was filed by the\u00a0Center for Gender and Refugee Studies<\/a>\u00a0(CGRS),\u00a0International Refugee Assistance Project<\/a>\u00a0(IRAP), and\u00a0National Immigration Law Center<\/a>\u00a0(NILC) on behalf of\u00a0Al Otro Lado<\/a>,\u00a0American Friends Service Committee<\/a>\u00a0(AFSC),\u00a0Border Kindness<\/a>, and\u00a0Southern Border Communities Coalition<\/a>\u00a0(SBCC). This is a second federal complaint filed against the CRCL for violations of human rights for its practices at the open-air detention sites, following a\u00a0complaint<\/a>\u00a0filed by SBCC on May 13, 2023, shortly after the violations were first documented. However, the inhumane conditions at the open-air detention sites have not changed and are spreading to other sites along the southern border.<\/p>\n

In the subsequent months, at least one person has tragically died while trapped in an open-air detention site, and conditions are expected to deteriorate as winter weather intensifies, further endangering those exposed to the elements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is galling that the Department of Homeland Security claims that their \u2018lack of resources\u2019 compels them to hold vulnerable refugees in open-air prisons without food, water, shelter, adequate sanitation facilities, or medical care,\u201d said\u00a0Erika Pinheiro, Executive Director of Al Otro Lado<\/strong>. \u201cDHS\u2019 2023 budget is almost $170 billion, yet it forces overstretched nonprofits, mutual aid groups, and dedicated volunteers to provide the basics that migrants need to survive in its open-air detention sites. Holding refugees in these inhumane conditions is a deliberate choice that contradicts the United States\u2019 self-proclaimed position as a bastion of freedom and human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unconscionable that Border Patrol agents force asylum seeking migrants to wait for hours and days in dangerous conditions,\u201d said\u00a0Pedro Rios, Director of the American Friends Service Committee\u2019s US-Mexico Border Program<\/strong>. \u201cIn San Diego, one person in a medically vulnerable state has already died at an open-air detention site. Community members and human rights organizations have been left to provide basic care, including food and water, to thousands seeking shelter and asylum in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

“For months, some of the world\u2019s most vulnerable people have arrived to the border in search of safety, and have instead been detained outdoors in life threatening conditions,\u201d said\u00a0Jacqueline Arellano, Director of USA Programs for Border Kindness<\/strong>. \u201cBorder Patrol is reacting with deliberate negligence, and in their refusal to provide for the basic needs of those in their detention, have risked thousands of lives by misdirecting their responsibilities to the community. The practice of Open Air Detention must be acknowledged and discontinued immediately to end this mass suffering and before there is further loss of life.”<\/p>\n

\u201cCBP\u2019s open-air detention sites endanger vulnerable families, children, and adults seeking safety,\u201d said\u00a0Edith Sang\u00fceza, CGRS Staff Attorney<\/strong>. \u201cNo one should be forced to endure such deplorable conditions as a consequence of exercising their rights. The government must act swiftly to protect lives. And it can. Much suffering could be alleviated if the government stopped illegally turning away asylum seekers without a CBP One appointment at ports of entry, leaving them no option but to take a dangerous path through the desert.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is simply no excuse for this shocking and inhumane treatment of people seeking safety,\u201d said\u00a0Linda Evarts, IRAP Senior Supervising Attorney<\/strong>. \u201cBorder Patrol is blatantly violating its own detention standards and endangering the lives of people in need. We demand that CBP treat people with the dignity and care they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is another example of CBP\u2019s egregious mistreatment of people seeking safety. And it must be corrected immediately,\u201d said\u00a0Sarah Kim Pak, Staff Attorney at the National Immigration Law Center<\/strong>. \u201cAt NILC, we\u2019ve taken CBP to court before for holding people in deplorable, unconstitutional conditions. We demand that the agency abide by its own standards and its obligations under law to provide people with basic necessities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, Customs and Border Protection is sidestepping accountability for not abiding by their own custody standards for asylum seekers, which not only undermines trust in the agency but the entire U.S. immigration system,\u201d said\u00a0Lilian Serrano, Director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition<\/strong>. \u201dCBP has a responsibility to protect human rights and dignity for all, yet their practice of forcing asylum seekers to remain outdoors in remote open-air detention sites says otherwise. Exposing migrants to the elements in the middle of winter with no food or water for days is beyond inhumane \u2013 it\u2019s appalling, and CBP must end this now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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