While Recognizing the Danger the Mexican Cartels Pose to US Citizens, Trump Ignores the Same Danger Posed to Asylum Seekers Forced to Remain in Mexico

A few years ago, my cousin was looking forward to her first trip to Mexico.  I asked if she bought her kidnapping insurance yet. She laughed, but then noticed I was being serious. She looked at me and said “That’s not a thing, is it?”  I told her to look it up.  A few days later, she called me absolutely surprised that kidnapping insurance existed for people taking trips to Mexico.

I don’t mean to impugn all Mexican people.  But we cannot pretend that all areas of Mexico are safe. The sad reality is that criminal organizations known as the cartels dominate the northern areas near the border with the United States.  Their main goal is to profit off of the illicit drug trade with the United States.  But they have their hand in any potentially lucrative criminal enterprise.

As an immigration lawyer, when you listen to your client’s stories of how they braved the cartels, you instantly feel anger, sadness and admiration at the same time.  Anger that such powerful and dangerous forces of evil exist.  Sadness that living with this evil is the reality for people who just want to escape the violence of street gangs in their home country.  And admiration that your clients faced this evil, and survived.

A Central American migrant simply cannot plan to journey north without considering the hold the Mexican cartels have over illegal border crossings.  Typically, a migrant hires a guide, known as a “coyote,” to lead them on their journey.  The coyote supposedly knows the terrain and how best to navigate the many obstacles that exist before reaching the border.  But each coyote is associated with one of the Mexican cartels.  The cartels have the territory just south of the border carved out.  If a coyote strays into territory belonging to a rival cartel, it can mean extortion, and even death to those is his group.

But even traveling through the territory controlled by the cartel associated with their coyote is not necessarily a guarantee of safety.  Coyotes have been known to lead groups of migrants right into the hands of cartel members, armed with automatic weapons, who in turn beat, rape and rob the migrants just when they reached the border.  Female clients of mine have told me that they expect this, and for that reason start taking birth control pills before their journey.  Women who are naive have wound up pregnant as a result of the rape.  Indeed, it has been reported that cartel members hang the underwear of their rape victims on trees, called rape trees, as a sign of their power.

At times, the cartels will kidnap the migrants trying to seek safety in the United States.  They may hold migrants for ransom. They may force females to satisfy their sexual desires, and do the cooking and cleaning for the cartels.  They may sell the migrants into slavery.

President Trump recently recognized the danger present in northern Mexico because of the cartels.  After nine members of a family of US citizens were murdered by the cartels, Trump tweeted an offer of US assistance with cleaning up the cartels to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.  

But while Trump recognizes the danger the cartels pose to US citizens (the victims of the cartel violence were related to Mormons who settled in Mexico after the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints abandoned the practice of polygamy in 1890, and maintain dual Mexican-American citizenship), he ignores the same danger those cartels pose to Central American migrants he has forced to wait in Mexico while their asylum applications pens in US Immigration Court. 

Last Winter, the Trump Administration began its “Remain in Mexico” program, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols or MPP.  Not wanting the migrants to stay in the United States while their asylum cases worked their way through court, Trump reached an agreement with the Mexican Government permitting asylum seekers to remain, temporarily in Mexico, only permitted into the United States when there were court hearings in their cases.  But the migrants would live in the very area of Mexico dominated by the cartels.

Already, it has been reported that migrants have been kidnapped by the cartels, as soon as they return to Mexico after a court hearing.  Nonetheless, keenly aware of the danger the cartels pose, the Trump Administration continues to force asylum applicants to face this danger, rather than permit the applicants to be released on bond within the United States.

As has often been argued, it is the cruelty of the Trump Administration towards migrants fleeing violence at home that is the point of the policy.  By demonstrating to potential migrants that the United States will compel them to live in dangerous situations while waiting for a decision on their asylum applications, which can often take years, the Administration hopes to disuade migrants from making the trip north. 

Whether such cruelty works as a deterrent to asylum seekers is questionable at best.  When the cruelty of ripping children away from their parents who crossed the border was the official policy of the Trump Administration, the number of Central Americans seeking the safety of the United States only increased significantly.  So far, in 2019, CBP statistics show a large increase of apprehensions at the border as compared to last year, despite the implementation of the MPP.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.

Take Steps to Avoid Immigration Scams!

People seeking help to stay in the country, unfortunately, tend to be the most vulnerable to immigration scams.  USCIS warns to watch out for such scams.

What are some of the common immigration schemes?  USCIS provides a list of immigration scams.

One of the most common schemes are notarios.  Notarios publicos in Latin American countries have a different role than notary publics in the United States.  In the United States, a notary public verifies signatures.  But, in other countries, notarios are public officials with important duties.  The duties can include performing marriage ceremonies.  Many unscrupulous people will exploit this linguistic problem, and advertise that as notarios they are qualified to help someone get immigration status.  At times, the advice given by such notarios is just plain wrong.  Other times, notarios will fill out forms and file them for their clients, without checking into whether the forms are appropriate to file in the alien's specific case.  Notarios have also been known to charge money for services that are never delivered.

Then, there a local businesses who promise that they can get a person immigration benefits.  These can include promises to get a green card, work authorization and other visas.  Many of these businesses will advertise that their services are cheaper than a lawyer's services.  Of course, only a lawyer can give proper immigration advice.

One such immigration scheme was busted outside of Houston.  There, an elderly woman bilked aliens out of thousands of dollars to perform services which she never provided.  According to authorities, the woman promised to file forms on behalf of aliens, but failed to deliver.  Instead, she would make repeated excuses as why she had not performed as promised.

According to USCIS, other scams include the use of .com websites, which imitate real U.S. Government websites.  U.S. Government website always end in .gov.  Forms are available from USCIS with no charge, so aliens should be careful not to pay to obtain forms.

Another common scam involves the visa lottery.  Scammers will promise to make it easier to win the diversity visa program, or will send emails claiming that the alien has won the visa lottery.

One key that can be useful in identifying a scammer is whether the advertisement references the INS, or Immigration and Naturalization Service.  This agency was eliminated after 9/11, and replaced by three agencies with responsibility over immigration:  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Those seeking immigration help would be best served by seeking advice from a knowledgeable immigration lawyer, or a reputable organization known to offer immigration help.

By: William J. Kovatch, Jr.
(703) 837-8832
info@kovatchimmigrationlaw.com