• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Saturday, May 28, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

US Migrant Protection Protocols Fuel Kidnappings in Mexico

Sam Fouad by Sam Fouad
11/28/19
in Featured, World
Central American migrants climb the border fence between Mexico and the United States, near El Chaparral border crossing, in Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico

Central American migrants climb the border fence between Mexico and the United States. Photo: Pedro Pardo, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Introduced by the Trump administration, Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) that are used by U.S. officials to send asylum seekers back to Mexico have been fueling the number of kidnappings in the country. 

The Trump administration started enforcing MPP beginning in January. According to the Department of Homeland Security, MPP is a program under which people attempting to enter the U.S. illegally may be returned to Mexico and wait there until their immigration proceedings have taken place. Under this plan, Mexico is also responsible for providing migrants waiting there with all necessary accommodations. 

Ever since the Trump administration began enforcing these protocols, stories of kidnappings have become the norm. 

Taylor Levy, a private immigration attorney in El Paso, Texas told The Globe Post there are generally two types of kidnappings that are routinely taking place in Mexican towns along the border – “bodega,” or warehouse, kidnappings and opportunistic kidnappings.

“Bodega” kidnappings are large-scale kidnappings that are done by cartels. They require a lot of overheard, as costs can include paying for a warehouse to hold migrants and paying off authorities. Cartels target Central Americans more because they seem to be more pliable or easier to manage culturally.

“Extortions start at $10,000 but are then willing to negotiate down,” Levy said.

Furthermore, rampant sexual assault, beatings, and photos of the victims being tortured sent to family members are ways of making sure the gangs are paid for people’s release. Levy noted that in these types of kidnappings, ransoms are a little higher for Venezuelans. 

The second type of kidnappings widespread in the area are opportunistic kidnappings. They are usually not carried out by cartels but by individuals who are more likely to target Cubans because Cubans are seen as being more wealthy.

“These kidnappers tend to ask family members of the hostage for a wire of $500 to $1,000 in exchange for their release,” Levy said.

The Safe Third Country Agreement & MPP (Migrant Protection Protocols) are a sham and just 2 components in the well oiled machine overtly trying to end asylum in this country.
We thank these efforts by Congress. #SaveAsylum https://t.co/iWEGinleAX

— RAICES (@RAICESTEXAS) November 27, 2019

Even as these crimes continue to take place on a regular basis, the Trump administration is expanding the purview of the MMP, which will now affect the Tucson region, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Washington Post has reported that the DHS is preparing to bus migrants trying to enter the U.S. from Arizona to Texas, so that they can drop them off in Mexico while they await their immigration proceedings.

Under the MPP, Mexico is responsible for ensuring that migrants are taken care while they await their immigration hearings in El Paso or other American border cities. However, Mexican authorities are sometimes complicit in the kidnapping and extortion operations run by the cartels, according to Kennji Kizuka, a senior researcher in refugee protections at Human Rights First.

“Officials appear powerless to intervene because the cartels are heavily armed and can respond violently to incursions on their authority… because corruption is so widespread in the police force, many asylum seekers and migrants fear even reporting crimes against them,” he told The Globe Post. 

Kizuka noted that Central Americans, Venezuelans and Cubans are targeted specifically because of their nationality.

“Many Cubans in particular have said that when they were attacked they were called ‘pinche Cubanos’ or ‘[expletive] Cubans’,” he said, adding that a reason why this is taking place may be due to strong anti-migrant sentiments in Mexico, currently directed at the migrant populations trying to cross through Mexican land. 

When asked what could be done to protect migrants forced to wait in Mexico to await their immigration hearings, both Taylor and Kizuka suggested that the MPP program needs to end.

Taylor explained that people often are returned at the same times and to the same places in Mexican border towns which make them very easy targets. She further said that people are sometimes kidnapped within five, ten, 15 minutes upon being dropped off in Mexico, and that it makes her job as an immigration attorney very difficult because her clients are always worried about whether or not they will die. 

“The best way to protect asylum seekers and migrants would be to end MPP and not return them to Mexico. Given the fact that Mexico cannot protect its own citizens from rising cartel violence, it’s very unlikely the Mexican government is capable of protecting MPP returnees,” Kizuka concluded.

ShareTweet
Sam Fouad

Sam Fouad

Globe Post intern, a global affairs analyst and photographer based in Washington, DC. You can connect with him at @_saf155

Related Posts

Mexico missing people
World

Over 100,000 People Reported Missing in Mexico, Data Reveals

by Staff Writer
May 17, 2022
A man holding a gun
Featured

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

by Stephen J. Lyons
May 2, 2022
Debanhi Escobar
World

Student’s Death Stokes Anger Over Mexican Femicide Crisis

by Staff Writer
April 29, 2022
Dollar bills held against a world map
Opinion

The Global Tax Won’t Fix Historically High Inequality, It Will Make It Worse

by Benjamin Waddell
February 21, 2022
People in the March For Our Lives rally against gun violence
Opinion

Walking Through a Tunnel of Sorrow

by Stephen J. Lyons
January 31, 2022
Poland border wall
Refugees

Poland Begins Work on New EU-Belarus Border Wall

by Staff Writer
January 25, 2022
Next Post
What to Know About Michael Bloomberg, the New Democratic Contender for President

What Campaigns Has Bloomberg Contributed to Prior to His Presidential Run?

China Slaps Sanctions on US Over Hong Kong Unrest

China Slaps Sanctions on US Over Hong Kong Unrest

Recommended

The Onion

‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens’

May 25, 2022
police line

Teen Gunman Kills 15 at Texas Elementary School

May 24, 2022
refugees

More Than 100 Million People Forcibly Displaced, UN Says

May 23, 2022
Volkswagen logo

German Farmer Sues Volkswagen Over CO2 Emissions

May 20, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Russia Says Economy Grew 3.5 Percent in First Quarter

May 18, 2022
Mexico missing people

Over 100,000 People Reported Missing in Mexico, Data Reveals

May 17, 2022

Opinion

A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

April 23, 2022
Ukraine war

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Hierarchies of Western Compassion

April 20, 2022
Chinese leader Xi Jinping

How Wrong ‘How China Can End the War in Ukraine’ Is

April 1, 2022
Ukraine children

The War for Ukraine’s Lives and Minds

March 30, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post