Charlene D鈥機ruz pulled 30 cents out of her pocket and asked her clients if they鈥檒l need it to get across a turnstile at the Gateway International Bridge that connects Brownsville to Matamoros.
D鈥機ruz is a U.S. immigration attorney and has worked with asylum seekers in Matamoros for several months. She鈥檚 with an organization called .
She recently walked with her asylum seeking clients to the midpoint of the international bridge.
鈥淚鈥檓 once again presenting families who have children with special needs and disabilities,鈥� D鈥機ruz said. 鈥淲e had, yesterday, three families, two with children who have autism spectrum disorder and a little girl with Lissencephaly, who is also developmentally disabled.鈥�
Lissencephaly is a brain disorder and people with the disorder have a life expectancy of 10 years. The little girl is 7.
鈥淲e鈥檙e back on the bridge hoping CBP does the right thing and takes them out of MPP because they do not belong in MPP,鈥� D鈥機ruz said.
The Trump Administration has sent more than 55,000 asylum seekers back to Mexico under the , formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, to wait there instead of the U.S., as their claims for asylum unfold in U.S. immigration court.
Migrants with health issues are supposed to be exempt from the program, but in many cases, the administration has refused to grant exemptions for sick migrants.
This was the second time D鈥機ruz tried to get these specific families and children into the U.S. and out of MPP. The routine is always the same: she stands with them at the midpoint of the bridge in front of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers for hours 鈥� as people commute from one side of the border to the other 鈥� while they wait for a response.
D鈥機ruz has done this with many other families and almost every time the families are sent back to Mexico.
When MPP rolled out, the federal government issued guidelines on how to enforce the program. These guidelines principles say that .
D鈥機ruz said, in practice, that has not been the case.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just ridiculous that we keep playing this game where, you know, that these folks don鈥檛 belong in here. Why are you making me keep coming back?鈥� D鈥機ruz said.
The families stand single file behind D鈥機ruz and Vidya Ramanathan, a pediatrician.
Ramanathan said some of the families and children at the bridge with them are living at a tent encampment of more than 2,000 asylum seekers in Matamoros.
When Ramanathan evaluated the children, they told her that living in the camp has caused them fear and anxiety. Some of them have seizure disorders, which Ramanathan said are intensified by the conditions at the camp.
鈥淭he fact that they have disabilities means that being in those encampments puts them at high risk to further trauma and further medical conditions, and so I think that is why it鈥檚 built into the MPP that they should be allowed into the United States,鈥� Ramanathan said.
D鈥機ruz has tried getting exemptions for families and children so they may receive medical care in the United States and be removed from MPP, but they鈥檝e continued to be sent back to Mexico to wait for their immigration court hearings.
In January, D鈥機ruz worked with a Cuban asylum-seeker named Yodalys. She鈥檚 a cancer survivor and a parasite is slowly making her blind 鈥� a condition that should make her exempt from the Remain in Mexico policy.
Yodalys鈥� journey to get to the U.S.-Mexico border from Cuba hasn鈥檛 been easy. She said she was detained in Mexico for 50 days. As her condition worsened, she said it has been hard to get around Matamoros.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 cross the street,鈥� Yodalys said. 鈥淚 had to sit down and ask a kid who was about to cross the street for help.鈥�
Yodalys said she鈥檚 gone to the local hospital, but the medical condition she has isn鈥檛 common, and she wasn鈥檛 able to get treatment. She said she left Cuba because she is being politically persecuted and that she was kidnapped on the way here.
鈥淭hey took my passport, everything,鈥� Yodalys said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 return to Cuba, I can鈥檛. Every day I鈥檓 here, I鈥檓 dying.鈥�
Yodayls鈥� children are in the U.S. They left Cuba a few years before her. She said her biggest fear is that she鈥檒l never see them again.
鈥淚 say I have to get to my son, I have to get to know my grandson. I have to do it,鈥� Yodalys said. 鈥淚 have to return to be able to touch my son, even if it鈥檚 just to touch and not be able to see him. All I ask is that I be able to see my son, my daughter and my grandson.鈥�
D鈥機ruz tried to get Yodalys out of MPP five times and every single time CBP told her she must return to Mexico.
on Feb. 3 and allowed to wait in the U.S. with family members as her asylum claim unfolds in immigration court.
Yodalys is one of the lucky ones. She has an attorney who is trying to get her into the U.S. and exempt from MPP. Others living at the tent encampment with similar health issues aren鈥檛 so lucky.
Back on the bridge, D鈥機ruz and her clients with disabilities have now been waiting for about two hours to learn whether they will be exempt from MPP.
What happened next on the bridge baffled the group.
A CBP officer with the last name 鈥淐abrera鈥� on his uniform approached D鈥機ruz and Ramanathan and took a picture of them with his cellphone. He didn鈥檛 ask permission or explain himself.
He stepped away and returned later to tell D鈥機ruz her clients will not be removed from MPP.
She asked who made that decision.
鈥淚鈥檓 not answering any questions,鈥� Cabrera said.
鈥淲as it Mr. Ortiz?鈥� D鈥機ruz asked before Cabrera walked away
Mr. Ortiz is the Port Director, who activists and attorneys say has the discretion and authority to parole someone into the U.S.
Ortiz declined to be interviewed for this story.
D鈥機ruz then turned to her clients and explained what just happened. She told them they鈥檒l have to return back to Mexico, again, but promises to try again.
After saying goodbye to the families, D鈥機ruz went to the CBP office to ask who made the decision and why Cabrera took their photo.
D鈥機ruz, Ramanathan and a local protester waited inside the office, then Cabrera entered. They asked to speak to his supervisor and Cabrera told the group he was the chief on duty and he was 鈥渄one discussing this.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to talk to my supervisor. Right now we no longer have any business with you, and you need to leave the premises,鈥� said Cabrera.
CBP officials said they don鈥檛 comment on specific cases or on decisions of who gets removed from MPP.
A spokesperson for the agency also said it鈥檚 not uncommon for CBP to photograph incidents on the bridge for 鈥渉istorical or documentary reasons.鈥�
The next day, D鈥機ruz tried crossing the families a third time, this time also with a two-year-old boy who has Down Syndrome, Microcephaly and a heart condition.
鈥淏ack home he鈥檇 get therapy,鈥� the child鈥檚 mother said. 鈥淒octors back home said with the therapies he鈥檇 be able to learn to walk more quickly, but right now he doesn鈥檛 walk and he doesn鈥檛 speak.鈥�
The mother hasn鈥檛 been able to get the proper treatments for her son while in Matamoros for monetary reasons and said she doesn鈥檛 feel safe waiting in Mexico.
As the families and children made their way to the bridge, the routine remains the same, they wait for a decision from officials.
They鈥檙e once again told they must continue to wait in Mexico.
Reynaldo Lea帽os Jr. can be reached at Reynaldo@TPR.org and on Twitter at
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