The Jesuit Network with Migrants, joined a coalition of more than 80 Catholic organizations that accompany refugees and asylum seekers, to ask the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, to put an end to the "Migrant Protection Protocol" (MPP, for its acronym in English).This policy, which was born in the Trump administration, forces people seeking asylum protection in the U.S. to wait for their hearings in Mexico. It is a cruel, inhumane policy that is contrary to international humanitarian law and international conventions on the right to asylum and the systems that support it.
Photo @JRSUSA
In the open letter, the undersigned organizations express our deep concern about the extension of the MPP program, which undermines the dignity, safety and rights of asylum seekers, with consequences of exposure to risks that can lead to dramatic situations.
Inspired by Pope Francis' message for the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, we urge the United States to put an end to this policy and to ensure that similar measures that focus on containment and do not respect life are not implemented in the future.
We encourage the Mexican administration, and its president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, to direct their efforts in persuading the Biden administration to stop the MPP, and not to collaborate in the implementation of these decisions that undermine the safety of those fleeing for their lives.
"Instead of turning away asylum seekers, and perhaps sending them to their deaths," the letter argues, "the United States should offer COVID-19 vaccines to those who have been unable to access them in the countries of origin and allow their asylum cases to go forward."