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By: Erin Sheridan January 19, 2020January 26, 2020
Articles, U.S./Mexico Border

New Year’s Eve

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Articles, U.S./Mexico Border

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Hispanic Caucus Tours Migrant Camp
Blind Cuban Asylum Seeker Gets No Help From CBP

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First positive COVID-19 case confirmed in camp. Tw First positive COVID-19 case confirmed in camp. Two Haitian families arrived on Saturday night after escaping a kidnapping attempt. Camp residents were able to assist them upon arrival, but the family had their belongings and documents stolen during the attack three blocks from the camp.
Update from the Port Isabel Detention Center, wher Update from the Port Isabel Detention Center, where ICE has confirmed 64 positive coronavirus cases: “A spokesperson for Ahtna, Inc, an Alaska Native Regional Corporation that contracts detention facility workers at the Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas, confirmed on Saturday that one of their employees contracted at PIDC passed away on Thursday, June 25. Asked to confirm whether reports of a detention officer at the facility passing away due to COVID-19 were true, Ahtna’s corporate communications director Shannon Blue replied, ‘We can confirm that an Ahtna Support and Training Services employee at Port Isabel Detention Center passed away on June 25, 2020. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the valued team member’s family and loved ones. We will not be providing any further information out of respect for the family. Our focus right now is on supporting the employee’s family and helping our employees through the grieving process.’ Though Ahtna did not specify the cause of death, a City Commissioner in San Benito posted via a personal Facebook page Friday night that one of the county’s two reported coronavirus deaths was a detention officer at PIDC. Advocates in touch with detainees on Friday were also investigating reports of a death related to the facility. ICE declined to confirm the death, as the officer technically was not employed by the agency.” Link in bio.
Storms on Thursday brought more rain to Camp Digni Storms on Thursday brought more rain to Camp Dignity in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where 2,500 asylum seekers live in tents along the Rio Grande. For several months, the area has been cordoned off by Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM) in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus into the population. On Thursday, an asylum seeker living in the camp reported that a family might have COVID-19. Staff at Global Response Management, which provides full-time medical care from its mobile unit on the dirt levee, said a family of asylum seekers had been isolated and swabbed for PCR tests after displaying symptoms. On Saturday, GRM’s project coordinator Sam Bishop confirmed the organization was still waiting for the results from the health department in Matamoros.
“Attorneys representing Steven, a severely diabe “Attorneys representing Steven, a severely diabetic Ugandan pastor detained in Los Fresnos, Texas are fighting against a final order of removal issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would send him back to his home country, where he faces certain death. In a press release published on Wednesday, Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley reported that officials in Uganda got word of the young pastor’s imminent deportation, assumed he had already returned, and ‘took immediate action.’ ‘His sister was attacked and beaten so badly she was hospitalized with head injuries. There was a barrage of threats and intimidation against his family and friends. A Ugandan official risked her own safety to write and confirm not only Steven’s past torture, but the fact that as soon as he steps off the plane in Uganda, he will be taken away by security officers and killed. He would never arrive at the customs gate at all.” Link in bio.
A protest on the Gateway International Bridge ende A protest on the Gateway International Bridge ended early Tuesday morning without incident when Mexican authorities escorted a group of about 100 asylum seekers requesting entry into the United States back to Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
“Odd guidance implemented by the Executive Offic “Odd guidance implemented by the Executive Office for Immigration Review in its last round of MPP postponements asked asylum seekers to present at a U.S. port of entry one month later than the date listed on the most recent notice to appear in order to obtain a reset hearing date. The small strip of paper Josue photographed was not marked with any official government seal or information. It stated simply, in Spanish, ‘To receive the date of your next MPP appointment, call the following number: 01800-898-7180.’ ‘A friend went to the court date today and they only gave her this paper and told her to call this number. She returned to the immigrant camp to get a borrowed phone to call. She has called many times and they don’t answer. This is what they give us immigrants, this is very unfair,’ said Josue of the document.” Link in bio.
Josue, an asylum seeker in Matamoros, describes hi Josue, an asylum seeker in Matamoros, describes his latest interaction with CBP. “I present myself. I walk in a line towards the American police. When I present myself, behind me comes a person, a videographer from England filming me. When I present myself and I give the documents to the official and he sees that the videographer is filming, he leaves and does not allow his name to show, as he has on uniform — last name Reyes.” Link in bio.
ICE on Friday reported 34 positive COVID-19 cases ICE on Friday reported 34 positive COVID-19 cases among detainees at the Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas. 31 of those detainees were under isolation or monitoring. The news prompted U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, Jr. to address a second letter to ICE Acting Director Matthew T. Albence asking the agency to follow its own pandemic protocol and immediately release all non-violent detainees from the facility. Link in bio.
A 31-year-old man from Cuba detained at the Port I A 31-year-old man from Cuba detained at the Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week, alleging the agency refused to release him even though he won withholding of removal from an immigration judge in November. Story on website.
“One detainee told Herrera that three dormitorie “One detainee told Herrera that three dormitories — A3, A4, and A2 — were preparing to hunger strike on Sunday morning. He estimated there were 40 detainees in each dormitory and 120 individuals planning to participate in the hunger strike. Asked what ICE tells him when he communicates his concerns, answered, ‘That’s why we’re going on hunger strike — because ICE won’t show their face. We want to talk to them, we want to tell them that we’re afraid for our health, and they won’t show up. There’s no way to communicate with them.’ Another detainee told Herrera ICE says, ‘If you get sick, you get sick.’”
“Norma Herrera, Rapid Response Community Organiz “Norma Herrera, Rapid Response Community Organizer with Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network (EVN), held her phone up to reporters as she spoke with two groups of detainees inside the facility over the ICE-monitored phone system. The estimates detainees gave the crowd regarding the number of confirmed COVID cases at PIDC varied, but two clear counts — 27 and 5 confirmed cases, 5 employee cases, 240 detainees quarantined, and 120 detainees preparing to hunger strike — indicated the number of cases is rising steadily and is already higher than what ICE has reported publicly.”
“‘He has never committed a crime. He founded a “‘He has never committed a crime. He founded a church at a very early age and started doing social support and social justice work. That was fine with the government when it was health education and welfare, because then they didn’t have to pay for it. His church was paying for it. But then, he started doing human rights work with prisoners and political dissidents, and that was not ok with the government,’ she said. ‘During one of his earliest torture sessions, he had two fingers amputated. His shins still bear extreme and heavy scars from melting plastic bags that were dripped onto his skin and knives that slashed into his flesh.’” Link in bio.
Josue, an asylum seeker who has been living in a c Josue, an asylum seeker who has been living in a camp in Matamoros with his family since last summer, sent photos and videos over the weekend he wants people living in the United States to see. Story on website.
U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement (ICE) is U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement (ICE) is refusing to release a diabetic asylum seeker who has been detained inside the Port Isabel Detention Center for a year and a half. Link in bio.
Update June 2: Detainees in touch with Valley-base Update June 2: Detainees in touch with Valley-based advocates are now reporting that staff has quarantined an estimated 216 people for having come in contact with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19. The number is up almost 100 from the 130 quarantined individuals reported over the weekend. Those 130 detainees under quarantine also represented a significant jump from the week before, when detainees in communication with Valley-based advocates reported that a total of 36 people in two separate dormitories may have been under quarantine beginning May 26. Link in bio. Photo by @denisecatheyphoto
The storms will continue through the week and the The storms will continue through the week and the families waiting in this camp across the river need help. A large tent housing families has partially collapsed under the wind and rain. From a camp resident in Matamoros who has been there since summer 2019: "Thank God we don’t have any injured…with this wind and rain, it’s very dangerous. The structure is very weak — it can’t handle the wind and rain. Please help us. We can’t continue to be here as migrants. We need to be in a safe place with our families.” Links to donate in story on website.
Asylum Seekers awaiting hearings under the Trump a Asylum Seekers awaiting hearings under the Trump administration’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ program (Migrant Protection Protocols, MPP) in a camp along the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Tamaulipas are dealing with flooding again with the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) predicting more thunderstorms through the end of the week. Videos posted by Team Brownsville on Facebook, taken by asylum seekers in touch with volunteers, showed an overnight thunderstorm flooding dirt pathways and tents. Even those dwellings lifted off the dirt by wooden palettes, purchased in bulk by aid workers in Matamoros, appeared partially submerged in water. Organizers with Team Brownsville, Resource Center Matamoros, Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley, Global Response Management, and more are collaborating to respond to needs as they arise. Link in bio.
“Messages sent to an advocate on May 26, one day “Messages sent to an advocate on May 26, one day prior to ICE’s confirmation of the second case inside PIDC, suggested that staff transported the infected detainee to a hospital. The detainee’s claim has not been confirmed by ICE and the advocate noted it was unclear whether the detainee who sent the message meant the facility’s infirmary or a civilian hospital. Detainees said in separate messages that dormitory pod ‘B-4’ had 20 detainees quarantined inside.” Link in bio.
A Saturday morning downpour sent the camp of asylu A Saturday morning downpour sent the camp of asylum seekers along a levee in Matamoros, Tamaulipas into disarray. Heavy winds brought down trees and destroyed tent dwellings secured to trees with ropes. Rain soaked belongings and documents. Clay pathways along the river stretching two recreational soccer fields turned to thick, slippery mud and pools of water collected on uneven ground, overwhelming trenches dug by residents to channel rainwater into the Rio Grande. Link in bio.
“Over the course of his practice, Diez has found “Over the course of his practice, Diez has found that DOJ counsel sent to litigate passport revocation cases tend to be unfamiliar with the history and cultural norms in in communities along the U.S./Mexico border, where trans-border lives and families are common. Many residents cross the border for work, shopping, and to access affordable healthcare and prescription drugs on a regular basis. Passports are essential to local lives, livelihoods, and economies. According to the attorney, security at border crossings was intensified post 9/11 and crossing for nonessential reasons became less common later in the 2000s, when violence spilling onto the streets of northern Tamaulipas began to deter residents from making unnecessary trips. ‘We used to go to Matamoros all the time. We used to have baptisms, we used to go hunting, we came at night and sometimes we didn’t even have documents,’ he said.” Link in bio.
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Recent Posts

  • A Detention Officer Employed At An ICE Facility In Los Fresnos, Texas Died This Week. Over 60 Detainees Have Tested Positive For Coronavirus
  • An Update From Matamoros (First Positive COVID-19 Case Confirmed In Camp)
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