Skip to main content

Congressman Panetta Travels to U.S-Mexico Border to Investigate Administration’s Migrant Protection Protocol

January 21, 2020

Met with Asylum Seekers, Toured Tent Court Faciliities

SALINAS, CA - On Friday, January 17, 2020, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) was invited to travel with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico to investigate the impacts of the Administration's "Migrant Protection Protocols" (MPP), also known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy which directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to return asylum seekers to Mexico while their claims are being processed. They also investigated the use of tent court facilities to adjudicate Remain in Mexico asylum cases. Congressman Panetta released the following statement about the delegation's findings:

"It's clear that the Migrant Protection Protocol policy and the tent courts were not designed to provide justice, but to prevent it. The numerous migrant families that I saw and talked to had fled unimaginable violence and poverty to seek a better life in America. Unfortunately, instead of finding safety, security, and opportunity, they were given a court date and sent back to Mexico. Many of the families that I spoke to in the make-shift camp had been waiting for months for their dates in court. Under the laws of our nation, we have an certain obligations to anyone who seeks asylum at our borders. The MPP policy doesn't come close to fulfilling our responsibilities and, definitely, doesn't live up to the values that we stand for as Americans.

"Based on my work to reform our nation's immigration laws, I was honored to be invited by my colleagues of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to make this trip to the border to see firsthand the impacts of the Migrant Protection Protocol. I look forward to working with all of the members of Congress to highlight the effects of the MPP and do everything within our power to change this policy."

Since the administration announced its "Remain in Mexico" program in December 2018, U.S. officials have pushed roughly 60,000 asylum seekers back across the southern border to wait in places the State Department considers some of the most dangerous in the world.

Image
Panetta  MPP  2

Image
Panetta  MPP  7

Image
Panetta  MPP  6
Image
Panetta  MPP  9

Issues:Immigration