- Title: U.S. borders reopen, but not for asylum seekers stuck in Mexico
- Date: 9th November 2021
- Summary: NOGALES, SONORA, MEXICO (NOVEMBER 8, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS FROM MEXICO LEO AND HIS FAMILY WALKING TO BORDER ENTRY POINT LEO AND HIS FAMILY TALKING TO THE BORDER PATROL AGENT TOURISTS WALKING PAST LEO AND HIS FAMILY AT THE BORDER ENTRY POINT VARIOUS OF LEO AND HIS FAMILY TALKING TO BORDER PATROL AGENT THEN GETTING TURNED AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ASYLUM
- Embargoed: 23rd November 2021 15:13
- Keywords: Biden CDC Immigration Mexico Nogales U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention U.S.-Mexico border asylum vaccination
- Location: NOGALES, SONORA, MEXICO
- City: NOGALES, SONORA, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,South America / Central America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001F2VNPL3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Leo fled his hometown in southern Mexico after his uncle was murdered by gang members and he received death threats. Earlier this year, he, his wife, and their two children headed to the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to claim asylum.
After months of waiting, he hoped he would finally get his chance on Monday (November 8). But even as U.S. borders opened for travelers vaccinated against COVID-19, they remained closed to asylum seekers.
When Leo, 23, and his family approached the port of entry in Nogales, Mexico, with his and his wife's vaccination cards in hand, they were told by a border official they could not enter and seek asylum.
"The agents told us that they're not taking asylum cases. How is it possible that people who are just going for tourism can be allowed in? We also have our COVID tests and we've been vaccinated. How can they do this to us?" said Leo, who asked his last name not be published for fear of reprisals from the gang he fled.
Leo has been working in construction to pay rent in Nogales, but he says his earnings are not enough to support his family.
He is also worried about his children getting hit by a stray bullet when gunshots ring out at night.
"We are in danger by being here," he said, adding that President Joe Biden "is just continuing the same policies of Donald Trump."
Biden has kept in place a controversial U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) order, first implemented by his Republican predecessor Trump in March 2020, that allows migrants to be immediately expelled without an opportunity to seek asylum.
The Biden administration has said the CDC's order, known as Title 42, remains necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as asylum seekers are processed in crowded settings at the border.
Any foreign national attempting to enter the United States without proper documentation will be subject to expulsion regardless of vaccination status, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Advocates have criticized the Biden administration's continuation of the expulsion policy as borders reopen.
The idea that a vaccinated asylum seeker is more of a risk than a vaccinated tourist is laughable, said Noah Gottschalk, global policy lead with Oxfam America, one of the advocacy groups suing the Biden administration to overturn the Title 42 order. Gottschalk said the exclusion of vaccinated asylum seekers strengthens the group's argument that the policy isn't about public health.
In September, a federal judge ordered the Biden administration to stop expelling family units - parents or legal guardians arriving with their children - under the Title 42 order. The administration appealed, and a higher court put the judge's ruling on hold as the case moves forward.
Last month, more than 1,300 medical professionals signed letters to the CDC urging it to end the border expulsions order, saying it lacked epidemiological evidence to justify it and put migrants at risk.
New York-based nonprofit Human Rights First has documented more than 7,600 kidnappings and other attacks on migrants stuck in Mexico who were blocked from entering the United States since Biden took office in January.
The U.S. State Department recommends Americans reconsider travel to the Mexican state of Sonora, where Nogales is located, due to crime and kidnapping.
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