Immigration Reporter, Washington Post
10:09 p.m.
‘Remain in Mexico’ hearings postponed
The U.S. immigration courts are postponing all “remain in Mexico” hearings scheduled through April 22 because of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the United States, a court spokeswoman said in a statement late Monday.
Asylum-seekers with a hearing date through April 22 should appear at their assigned border checkpoint on their scheduled hearing date to receive new hearing notice, the statement said.
Trump administration officials said they are not canceling the program, known officially as the Migrant Protection Protocol, and are “deeply committed to ensuring that individuals ‘have their day in court’ while also ensuring the health and safety of aliens, our frontline officers, immigration court professionals, and our citizens.”
Immigration lawyers and labor unions representing government prosecutors and immigration judges have blasted the Justice Department for keeping the administrative immigration courts open as the novel coronavirus spreads across the United States. Court officials have now postponed all hearings except for those for detained immigrants, according to the court’s web site.
The judges, prosecutors and advocates have urged the Justice Department to shutter “all immigration courts” because of the risks of spreading the potentially deadly disease.
“Keeping the courts open is not only a health risk to everyone who comes to these courtrooms, it is creating a serious health hazard for the broader public. The Immigration Courts should be immediately closed,” Immigration Judge Ashley Tabaddor, the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ), said in a statement Sunday.
Approximately 60,000 migrants from Central America and other regions have been turned back to Mexico after crossing the southern border to await their asylum hearings since the Trump administration launched the program last year to curb mass migration. The Justice Department has estimated that 25,000 are still in Mexico awaiting hearings. Many have returned to their native countries. Some have disappeared or been killed, advocates say.
By Maria Sacchetti