WEBVTT - Addressing the “Border Crisis” Narrative with Al Otro Lado 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:08.240 Hi, and welcome to it could happen here a podcast 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.760 which today is only me and my guest Nicole, and 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.000 today we're gonna be talking a little bit about immigration, 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:17.919 about immigration policy over the last three or four years, 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.279 and about some of the strange laws that impacted. So 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:25.080 Nicole is joining me. She works for Alotto Lado and 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.600 Nicole would likely tochuse herself explain a little bit about 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.840 what you do. Hi, my name is Nicole Elizabeth Ramos, 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.440 and I am the director of Alto Lavel's Order Rights Project, 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:38.760 which is based in Tijuana, Mexico. Great, okay, So I 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.120 think perhaps to start off with, you could clue people 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:43.479 in on a little bit of what you guys do, 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.199 because you do some incredible work and it's very very 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:50.320 valuable to boarder communities, and I think a lot of people, 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.360 if they don't live in along the boarder, might not 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:57.520 be familiar with it. At LAVO, we provide legal orientation 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:02.800 to migrants that are considered during seeking asylum in the US. 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.240 We started off as a project that focused locally on 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:11.600 migrants in Tijuana, and over the years we have expanded 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:15.920 to serve migrants in Mexicali and then remotely in other 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:20.560 cities along the US Mexico border, including Grenosa, Matamoro, Squads, 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:27.280 piege Uh and in this legal orientation, we're providing information 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.720 about what are the current policies at the moment that 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:34.240 will impact their ability to seek asylum in the US 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:38.920 or prevent them from doing so, or how these policies 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:43.440 might be impacting their family composition, so policies that are 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:49.240 related to detention or family separation. After we provide legal orientation, 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:54.200 we are then identifying asylum seekers that fall into several 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:59.680 vulnerability categories to provide additional accompaniment through this process. Because 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.680 the policies are shifting and changing and becoming more restrictive 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:10.000 over time, it's very confusing and cumbersome to we throw 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.760 all of the fuzz and figure out what you need 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:15.560 to do in order to seek asylum in the US. 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.160 So that's where we come in and we provide the 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:22.720 orientation in multiple languages. The border is a very diverse place. 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.320 It's not just Spanish speakers that are coming, but people 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:33.440 that Speakation, Creole, French, Farsi, indigenous languages, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:37.520 um and all of these people need access to information. 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:39.639 That's one of the pillars of our program is that 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:44.600 migrants have the absolute right to accurate legal information about 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:48.880 the process that they will be entering. Among the asylum 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:51.560 teachers that we work with, we also identify those that 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:55.600 our need of shelter and make referrals and proprilated shelters 0:02:55.919 --> 0:03:01.360 for medical care. In some instances we assist with obtaining 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:05.000 medications or obtaining a needed surgery if the migrant is 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:09.240 not have access to those resources, helping them obtain access 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:15.560 to HIV medication or hormone treatment, and of those migrants, 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:20.040 we are also connecting them with other supportive services from 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:24.000 our partners UM that have shelters, that have programs where 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:28.000 they're giving them basic dispenses of food because they are 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:31.799 struggling with food and security. Trying to create as much 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:36.880 of a social safety net as possible because UH folks 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:40.240 are waiting at the border for longer and longer periods 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.640 of time. The border used to be a place that 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.160 people passed through, maybe they were here for a few 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:49.040 days before ultimately they were able to present them at 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:51.720 a present themselves at a US port of entry um 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:55.280 to a US official and enter the asylum process. However, 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:57.880 now we have individuals that have been waiting at the 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:01.600 border for years, UM, who may not have work status 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:05.280 in Mexico, may not be Spanish speakers, and are really 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.920 struggling to meet their basic needs. And so we've had 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:11.280 to expand our services from not just legal service provider, 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:15.960 provider of legal information, but also providing humanitarian aids so 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:20.400 that people can be healthy and as well as possible 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:25.040 um while they're waiting. Yeah, and it's it's incredibly valuable, 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:28.000 and it's it's amazing how you guys can continue to 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:32.000 step up and scale up as federal government has continue 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:35.640 to fail people. UM. And I think if people haven't 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:37.240 come to the border, they probably won't be aware of, 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:41.280 like you say that diversity of people who come to 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.160 the US Mexico boarder. Like I remember a couple of 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:46.720 years ago, I was working within a Romo translator and 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:49.560 with speaking to people who would come from Ethiopia, people 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.479 come from Eritrea into it's a very of course, people 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:56.200 coming from Ukraine. Now it's very diverse space, which is 0:04:56.279 --> 0:05:00.480 something that kind of gets collapsed pretty often in border reporting. 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:02.800 I think like all that diversity gets collapsed into like 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.719 like just people are lumped together as migrants or people 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:10.760 seeking asylum. And that's a shame because it's what makes 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.120 part of what makes us so complicated, but also what 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:16.680 makes these border places such kind of interesting and special places. 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:19.520 And and I like what you said about all the 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:22.320 sort of services that are provided as well. It's incredible 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:27.080 to look at how these services are provided by huge 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:31.320 broad network of like volunteers, of nonprofit of of NGOs, 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.920 as well as some government agencies, and how people have 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:39.000 stepped up consistently, especially in the last I guess six 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:44.440 seven it did such a long time, it's like, and 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:46.680 how people have stepped up to help each other along 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.120 the border. So perhaps if we go back you and 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:50.920 I we're just talking before we started. If we go 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:54.839 back to eighteen, which people may or may not remember, 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:57.880 was the mid term, in the middle of Donald Trump's presidency, 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.800 and a large caravan of people, a group of people 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.880 that particularly larger remarkability, a group of people arrived at 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:08.960 the border and became kind of the center of something 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:14.080 of like a and they became I think their their 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:17.400 arrival was used by both political parties as part of 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:21.000 the sort of midterm messaging. And and I think that 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:23.760 was maybe for some people, especially if if they're younger 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:25.240 and had been watching their news the sort of first 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:29.720 introduction to the asylum process. So can you explain kind 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:34.240 of how asylum is supposed to happen, and then maybe 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.560 we can get into some of the weird and bizarre 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.200 things that have been happening to it in the past 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:42.440 three or four years. Asylum is supposed to be a 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:48.080 system that's managed first by by government authorities UM under 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:52.159 Title eight, section twelve five of the United States Code, 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:57.840 US immigration officer at a port of entry UM or 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.240 at any point in between ports of entries such as 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:04.680 border patrol, when they are presented with a person that 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:07.480 expresses that they have a fear of return to their 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:11.800 home country, that they fear of persecution, to refer them 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:15.440 along the track to be processed as an asylum seeker. Now, 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.120 that can mean that that person is still detained for 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.640 the entirety of their asylum case and sent to an 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.080 immigration detention center. That could also mean that that person 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:29.160 is given court paperwork to show up an immigration court 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:34.120 at a later date to begin the process of explaining 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:39.160 their case to the immigration court and getting a final decision. UM. 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:43.720 Over the years beginning at the end of the Obama administration, 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:48.440 continuing through the Trump administration, and also continuing even now 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:52.360 into the Biden administration, we have seen policies issued by 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:57.040 CDP which restrict access to the port of entry for 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:04.320 a silent seekers. Initially, it started out in two thousand sixteen, 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:08.440 where the Obama administration came up with a policy called 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:12.160 the Metering Policy, which was known as the waitlist, which 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:16.360 required at first only Haitian asylum seekers to put their 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.920 name on a wait list with Mexican immigration authorities and 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.360 then they would be called in groups um to enter 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.360 the US. And that was in response to the exodus 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.520 of immigrants that we saw coming from Haiti and through 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.280 Brazil in two thousand and sixteen. The metering list was 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:39.600 later expanded to apply to all nationalities, including Mexican migrants 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.400 that were trying to flee their own country, including those 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:48.000 that had legitimate claims for protection being persecuted by members 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.719 of their own government. Everyone had to still get on 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:56.640 this list. That policy was extended in an ideological framework 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.480 when the Trump administration came up with a program known 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:03.559 as rem in Mexico and just building upon that idea 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:07.439 that it is okay to make asylum seekers wait in 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.760 territory in which they fear persecution because a lot of 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:15.839 people here persecution in Mexico UM and under the Remain 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:19.319 in Mexico policy also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.040 m p P. They we always refer to it as 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:27.280 the Migrant Persecution Protocols because it feels it's extremely all 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.280 WELLI in right, like people like to use a welly 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:33.040 and wrong. But that that one that one pret Yeah, 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:38.880 this program required asylum seekers that were entered. They were 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:43.000 placed into a program called MPP. They were given court 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.480 date and people were to appear at court in their 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:48.760 nearest border city where there was an immigration court at 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:51.000 some date in the future. It could be a few weeks, 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:53.120 it could be several months, it could be a year. 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:57.280 And in between their court hearings, they would be required 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.439 to remain in Mexico. They could only go to the 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:01.000 court of Entry you on the date of their court 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:03.679 they would be transported to court and then transported back 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:08.000 to Mexico after their court, leaving Mexico people in Mexico 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:12.400 in limbo for years. And then when the pandemic came, 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.800 we saw the border closed entirely. Under Title fort you two, 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:22.120 the Trump administration build it as necessary to protect the 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:27.720 American public from migrants that could be carriers of COVID nineteen. 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:31.000 But this is really, you know, no different than other 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:35.040 immigration legislation that we've seen throughout history, which tends to 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:39.400 paint immigrants as vectors of disease UM, and we need 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:43.840 to just keep them out at all costs, and under 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:47.280 Title for you too, it's just a wall of policy. 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.360 People tried to present themselves at the port of entry 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:56.240 and they're turned away. People enter the US UH at 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.040 different points that are not ports of entry without inspection 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:03.720 UM and get caught and they're expelled immediately back to Mexico, 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:08.160 or if it's not a country that Mexico will accept 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.839 an expulsion, they could be detained in US custody and 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.680 then expelled back to their country of origin without any 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:20.880 opportunity to speak with an asylum officer UM. Right now, 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.839 we have been dealing with Title for you two in 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:29.400 a process where certain number of people are exempted from 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:34.160 this blanket denial every day UH and different ports of 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:39.200 entry along the border participate. Each port of entry has 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:43.360 its own cap numerical cap UM and initially, when this 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:47.480 program started in May the names of people that were 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:51.480 being submitted as exemptions. The asylum seekers names were submitted 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:57.520 by civil society organizations such as A Lallo LAO. Just 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:01.280 this year alone, we've submitted around a seven thousand, five 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:07.240 hundred I'm sorry exemption requests UM, and that was from 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:11.240 individuals from twenty nine different countries speaking just over thirty 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:16.880 different languages. So now though, the system has recently changed 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:21.680 to a smartphone application known as c d P one, 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:27.319 which requires migrants to download this application to their smartphone, 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:30.719 assuming that they have a smartphone, and then complete this 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:36.640 lengthy application UM that requires them to upload a photo 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:42.560 UM for facial recognition software and wait for an appointment 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.400 date to be made available. And they have to keep 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:50.080 entering the fifth multiple times and until an appointment date 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:52.880 becomes available, waking up every morning at five thirty for 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.319 when the new slots are made available at six am. 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:00.040 And the problem, among many problems with this application you 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:02.840 just said right now, it's only available in Spanish and English, 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:06.319 so if you speak any other language, you are not 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:11.360 able to access it UM, and we have to give 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:15.280 you an example. UM. We have an online survey where 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.400 people register or try to seek help from US. We 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:23.280 have over since April one, over fifteen thousand unique fifty 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:28.920 unique responses. Around half of those are from Haitian creole speakers. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:34.600 Cannot access this app to get an appointment. The other 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:40.000 issue is is that the facial recognition software that's integrated 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.120 into the cd P one app. You know, there's a 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:45.479 lot of studies throughout the years about how this software 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:50.199 will lead to false positives or failure to recognize for 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:55.319 individuals that have um Afro descendant features or individuals that 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:59.720 have more indigenous features, and we have seen this firsthand. 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:05.040 So many of our Haitian clients are unable to even 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:09.960 complete the profile, and they are taking photos with cameras 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:12.960 that have a decent you know, lens capacity, and they 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:18.760 still can't get past the facial recognition software. Yeah, it's 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:22.120 just like a layers on layers of sort of you know, 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.640 sometimes it's just them being like ineffective. Sometimes it just 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:39.360 seems cruel. Let's go back a little bit to title 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:42.160 forty two, because that word has been thrown around a lot, right, 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.200 Title thirty two isn't in It's not immigration law, is it. 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:49.720 It's it's public health law? Is that right? I guess 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:51.840 it's it's public it's a public health policy that's part 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:55.720 of immigration law. Yes, it's public health policy that's being 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.800 applied in the immigration contact to close the border. Yeah. 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.560 And then one thing that I think we've seen a 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:06.720 lot recently is like one of the worst accounts on Twitter, 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:10.760 which is the Border Patrol Union likes to they do 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:14.000 occasionally like tweet they around lossuits, which is kind of funny. Um, 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:18.480 But they like to throw out these statistics right constantly 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.360 about encounters at the border. Can you explain how under 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:29.120 Title forty two, each encounter might not be a unique individual? Yeah. Absolutely, 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:34.360 those individuals are over accounted because people will make multiple 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:39.240 attempts to try to enter the US because they're so desperate. 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.600 It's a dystopian healthscape on this side of the border, 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:49.640 with people being trafficked, kidnapped for extortion, tortured, raped, murdered, 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:54.520 sold ah. And so if that were any reasonable person, 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:58.000 you would try tan fifteen times whatever it took to 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:02.360 get across to safe. And the Border Patrol Union is 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:06.600 disingenuous because it knows this, and instead it pulls out 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:10.360 a figure that is much larger than what it represents 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:15.560 in actual people and they're disingenuous and how they describe it. Yeah, yeah, 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.040 I think it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:20.480 through it. And of course when we combine this with 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.600 the the wall or the fence or whatever you want 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.600 to call it, people are crossing in more and more 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:29.760 dangerous areas, which makes the crossing more risky, right, and 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.840 results in hiring into people dying or hurting themselves trying 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.960 to cross, which, as you say, it's it's not a 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:41.240 reasonable thing to do when you're faced with these terrible circumstances. Yeah. 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:44.920 There's a beautiful poem called Home by Warsha and Sire, 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:49.320 who's a Somali British poet, and one of the lines 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.440 is you don't put your child in a in a 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:55.400 boat unless it's safer than the land. No one would 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:59.320 attempt to cross a thirty football or wade the Rio 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:03.040 grand A across the Arizona desert in the middle of 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:07.440 summer unless what was behind them they were so sure 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:11.120 was going to kill them. And the way that we've 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:15.160 structured the wall and raising the height of the wall 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:18.080 to make it harder to cross, and to build as 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:21.760 much wall along the places where it would be a 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.440 little bit easier to cross from people making it so 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.280 the only way to cross is through the most dangerous parts. 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:33.520 That's and that's intentional. That is, you know, designed for 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:37.840 people to die because the government mistakenly believes that if 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:42.480 it kills more people that folks will be deterred. But 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:47.000 that's um, not actually what we see on the ground. No, 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.080 and like it's not a vacuum, right, people are coming 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:52.920 from bad things like making just making the boarder difficult 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.160 one will do nothing more than kill more people, which 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.680 is what they've succeeded in doing, sadly, and so and 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:00.560 then another thing, I wanted to get it as Title 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:03.360 forty two with this this crazy series of court cases 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:06.800 around Title forty two, Right, so can you explain, like 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:10.640 why titled forty two hasn't been repealed when we've done 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.800 away with almost every other protection for people in kind 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:18.520 of an ongoing pandemic. Title forty two could be repealed 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:23.120 if the government was so not so intent on fighting 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:26.440 the repeal of Title forty two. The a c l 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.240 U has been in port for the last few years 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.920 around Title for you two. UM in a case called 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:38.919 we shaw we Sha be my works, and the judge 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:43.720 in that case issued a decision in December ruling that 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:46.879 turning away asylum seekers using Title for You two as 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:52.440 a pretext um to turn asylum seekers away was unlawful. However, 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:57.200 that decision was stayed. The government requested that the decision 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:02.400 be uh temporarily stayed to give it time to make 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:05.440 operational plans. The A C. L. You did not oppose 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:09.520 that stay, and as a result, during that time, a 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:14.360 group of conservative states filed intervening litigation UM to make 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:19.160 their arguments about how their interests were harmed by the decision. 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:24.080 So now that cases before the Supreme Court and they 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:28.160 will not hear the case until February, and we could 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:32.360 be waiting as long as June for a decision. Yeah, 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:35.560 many of those lots of those states weren't even along 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:40.040 the border, right, there's some of the ones who sued. Yeah, 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:44.200 that's still a mystery to all of us along the border. 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:49.560 How interior states that sure might be receiving people coming 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:54.679 from the border, but um don't have that close nexus. 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:57.800 Is in there are border community and they're being immediately impacted. 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:03.879 Yeah yeah, pretty pretty female stuff. And the other issue 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:07.520 I want to raise for people is the narrative is 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:11.399 that we're in a crisis the borders and a crisis. Uh, 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:14.120 there's so many people we can't possibly help them all. 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:17.680 We close the border for over two years, so of 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:20.800 course there's going to be more people because we've made 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:27.240 it impossible for people to access. However, the ports of 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:32.639 entry have contingency plans for mass migration events. This is 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:35.840 something that UM was learned during the context of our 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:40.560 litigation UM against c VP around access to the board 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:45.320 of Entry, and we see that the government is capable 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:50.840 of responding rapidly in a manner that is consistent with 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:54.399 human dignity, and how it responded to thirty thousand Ukrainians 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:58.840 showing up in Tijuana this spring. In some days, c 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.040 d P accepted as many as a thousand Ukrainians in 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:07.439 a given day, where as both on those days they 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:11.440 were accepting zero of other nationality, and they were able 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:13.760 to get up to speed so quickly because every port 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.320 of entry has a contingency plan. We are the United 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:19.200 States government. We are arguably one of the most powerful, 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:22.440 well resourced governments on Earth. If you buy the line 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:23.879 that this is a crisis and we don't have a 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:25.920 contingency plan, then we've got a lot of work to 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:29.240 do here. Um, And so it's not it's a it's 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:33.200 a manufactured crisis. Uh. We have the resources, we have 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:36.359 the personnel. C VP has the largest law enforcement budget 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:38.919 of all the law enforcement agencies in the federal government, 0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:43.720 and they have hands of thousands of personnel. It's what 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:48.440 we lack is the political will and the emotional capital 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:53.120 to do what we've already agreed to under US federal law, 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:57.959 as well as the Refugee Convention which we signed uh 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:02.360 following World War Two, which was designed to prevent further 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:05.879 genocide for their persecution of large groups of people. Um, 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:11.159 but we continue to renag on on those obligations to 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:14.120 which were to Yeah, yeah, like when we talk about 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:17.520 genocide and persecution, Like I personally know people from me 0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:20.040 and mar who are really struggling with the United States 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:25.240 asylum system right now, and yeah, it's really deeply just 0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:29.720 infuriating to see them continue to pursue this kind of 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:31.600 like waving my hands in the air, I don't know 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:43.880 what to do kind of things. Let's talk a little 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:47.440 bit about Joe Biden and his policies, because like they've 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:51.720 been blackluster or just completely like in some cases. You know, 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:54.639 he he's issued executive orders which basically have gone on 0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:59.160 fulfilled right regarding asylum. And so they made a statement 0:22:59.440 --> 0:23:02.199 a few weeks ago now and Biden visited the border, 0:23:02.840 --> 0:23:05.639 and can you explain what he said in that statement 0:23:05.760 --> 0:23:10.000 and then sort of what the Biden administration hasn't done 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:12.359 to clear up the asylum system that it promised it 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:16.200 would do. The Buiding administration made a lot of promises 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:21.880 on the campaign trail. UM made an effort to put 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:28.000 advocates in places in DHS other key positions to give 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:31.760 the appearance that it was serious about reform and treating 0:23:33.040 --> 0:23:37.119 immigrants in a way that is dignified and humane. UM. 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:42.480 But what we've seen is a continuation of Trump policies 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:46.040 which restrict access to the border. For example, UM, the 0:23:46.160 --> 0:23:50.800 new asylum band that they are proposing through regulation where 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:55.560 individuals that have translated through another country UM and did 0:23:55.600 --> 0:23:58.520 not seek asylum in that country, even if that country 0:23:58.600 --> 0:24:00.720 was not a safe country for them, UM, that they 0:24:00.760 --> 0:24:04.040 would be precluded from applying for asylum. A lot of 0:24:04.119 --> 0:24:08.240 people are have been enthusiastic about these new parole programs 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:15.760 for specific nationalities like Paraguans and a Swillans, um Haitians, Cubans. However, 0:24:17.080 --> 0:24:20.840 those programs are really just scraps um. They have a 0:24:20.920 --> 0:24:25.879 thirty thousand person cap um. The Ukrainian parole program had 0:24:25.920 --> 0:24:29.600 a hundred thousand person cap which has already been surpassed, 0:24:30.080 --> 0:24:35.639 surpassed um. Ukrainian sponsors well as of the Ukrainian asylum 0:24:35.680 --> 0:24:38.879 seekers that were presenting through that pel program, had much 0:24:39.200 --> 0:24:43.600 less by way of requirements um. And so they've made 0:24:43.920 --> 0:24:49.080 a separate and not equal program for other nationalities which 0:24:49.119 --> 0:24:52.400 just happened to be nationalities that aren't white. Yeah. Yeah, 0:24:52.480 --> 0:24:55.680 it's hard not to see a kind of white people 0:24:55.800 --> 0:25:00.800 first approach to asylum here. Yeah. I it certainly challenges 0:25:00.840 --> 0:25:03.359 to your ability not to believe it's our right racist. 0:25:04.240 --> 0:25:10.600 So I wonder like going forward, obviously people listening will 0:25:10.640 --> 0:25:15.160 probably be sort of upset and concerned the continuing failures 0:25:15.720 --> 0:25:18.280 of our government. You don't think about it? Can you 0:25:18.359 --> 0:25:22.320 outline like how people can help? I know there's there's 0:25:22.320 --> 0:25:24.359 lots of people who will do direct mutual aid right, 0:25:24.400 --> 0:25:28.760 like people like food not bombs of feeding people in Tijuana, 0:25:28.880 --> 0:25:30.760 But how can folks maybe who are at the border, 0:25:30.840 --> 0:25:32.600 and then who aren't near the border how can how 0:25:32.640 --> 0:25:36.399 can they help well organizations that are at the border, 0:25:36.760 --> 0:25:41.959 including ourselves, who work with volunteers that are remote, UM, 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:45.600 particularly if they have a foreign language skill, because we 0:25:45.760 --> 0:25:49.840 can't serve tons of thousands of people each year with 0:25:50.119 --> 0:25:52.720 just the staff that we have UM, and so we 0:25:52.920 --> 0:25:57.160 have a really robust remote volunteer network. UM. I would 0:25:57.200 --> 0:25:59.680 also encourage people, as you pointed out, to look for 0:26:00.560 --> 0:26:04.960 organizations in their own community that are serving immigrants. It 0:26:05.359 --> 0:26:10.520 is incredibly humbling to move to another country and realize 0:26:10.640 --> 0:26:13.000 you don't know how to read the light bill, UM, 0:26:13.520 --> 0:26:15.440 you don't know how to register your kids for school? 0:26:15.640 --> 0:26:18.159 Can your kids go to school? Where can I go 0:26:18.280 --> 0:26:21.800 to the doctor? What you know? What is an ambulance? 0:26:21.960 --> 0:26:23.399 What that you know that I might not have to 0:26:23.440 --> 0:26:26.240 pay for that? All of these things that might be 0:26:26.400 --> 0:26:30.359 different from them, And a real lack of volunteers to 0:26:30.560 --> 0:26:36.159 assist people with those daily integration activities that are so 0:26:36.280 --> 0:26:39.640