US churches denounce sending asylum seekers to Mexico

US faith leaders on Thursday expressed outrage over a Trump administration policy that sends asylum seekers to some of Mexico’s most violent cities, echoing US asylum officers who said the programme was contrary to America’s “moral fabric”.

In an open letter to US President Donald Trump and other political leaders, a coalition of evangelical churches said it was “deeply troubled” by a policy it said left children vulnerable to violence and trafficking, as well as by reports of “inhumane” conditions in US federal immigration facilities.

The Catholic diocese of El Paso, Texas, separately denounced a critical lack of shelter, food, legal aid and basic services for asylum seekers returned to Mexico under the programme and “distressing detention conditions” in the United States before they are returned.

Bishop of El Paso, Mark Seitz, will on Thursday accompany migrants being returned to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico under the programme known as 'Remain in Mexico or Migrant Protection Protocols' (MPP), the diocese said in a statement.

A photo of drowned migrants and reports of horrendous conditions for detained children have spurred efforts this week to find a compromise over a US$4.6 billion emergency funding bill to address worsening humanitarian conditions for migrant children and families crossing the US-Mexico border.

US border patrol agents say they have apprehended 664,000 people along the southern border so far this year, a 144 percent increase from last year, and the highest number in over a decade. Officials say the system is overwhelmed.

The renewed focus on conditions on the border has also galvanised opposition in recent days to the MPP programme, which started in January and has now affected more than 15,000 asylum seekers, mainly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Under a deal struck with Mexico on July 7 to stave off tariffs threatened by Trump, the programme is being expanded to more cities and applied to new nationalities including Cubans.

In its letter, the Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition including nine major US church groups, said the policy restricts access to US legal counsel and greatly reduces the possibility that migrant families “will be able to receive a truly just and fair chance at receiving asylum”.

Pilgrims

In court papers filed on Wednesday, a union that represents asylum officers at US Citizens and Immigration Services, described the programme as “fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our Nation”, citing the American tradition of sheltering the persecuted stretching back to the arrival of “Pilgrims onto a Massachusetts shore in November 1620”.

The new acting USCIS head pushed back against the union on Wednesday night on Twitter and later sent an official statement saying the court filing was a “cheap political stunt”. Ken Cuccinelli, a Trump ally who was appointed on June 10, has echoed the president’s line that the focus should be on weeding out fraudulent asylum claims.

US officials usually do not comment on pending litigation.

The union filed briefs in a case supporting a group challenging the legality of MPP in court. A group of 22 former senior US officials also filed a brief against the policy on Wednesday, as did the United Nation’s refugee agency, which concluded MPP was “at variance” with US international obligations.

A US appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration may continue sending asylum seekers to wait out their cases in Mexico while the government appeals a lower court ruling that found the policy violated US immigration law.

Hundreds of asylum seekers are returned every day under the expanded programme. They are likely to wait in Mexico for around two years because of a backlog in US immigration courts.

- Reuters