WASHINGTON.— The Trump Administration has violated the human rights of migrants by imposing numerous restrictions on their access to asylum and returning tens of thousands to Mexico, a Human Rights Watch humanitarian group said Tuesday.
In its 652-page annual report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that under the Trump Administration there has been a setback in the rights of minorities and immigrants.
He has done so not only for the implementation of "inhuman migration policies" but through the promotion of "false narratives that perpetuate racism and discrimination," the document said.
In 2019, the United States imposed more restrictions on access to asylum for migrants fleeing violence in their countries, particularly in Central America, beginning with the implementation of the Stay in Mexico program, which forces them to wait in Mexico to resolve their cases. .
In addition, the Administration imposed a ban on asylum seekers who passed through a third country before entering the United States, and signed “cooperation” agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, to discourage illegal emigration from Central America.
The Trump Administration has achieved significant judicial victories in those three pillars, because the courts have allowed it to keep asylum restrictions standing until they issue a final ruling.
But, according to HRW, these policies are show that the US government He has continued to turn his back on his obligations to asylum seekers under international law by denying them protection.
More than 55,000 people have been returned to Mexico, often in "dangerous and unfeasible" situations and devoid of legal representation and fair hearings, he added.
Those returned to Mexico include people with disabilities or other chronic health conditions, although the Administration initially issued a guide that would not place people with physical or mental illnesses in that program. In the border city of Ciudad Juárez, HRW documented six cases of people in that category, four of them minors, the organization said.
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Since last July, the Trump Administration has also accelerated the deportations of undocumented people who cannot prove their presence in the US for at least two years, which has led to a return of refugees and asylum seekers to dangerous situations.
Regarding the treatment of minors, the Trump Administration continued to lock them up in “inhuman conditions” in Border Patrol facilities more similar to prisons - including children as young as two years old -, without contact with their relatives, and without access to showers, clean clothes , beds or proper medical care for weeks, HRW continued.
For the organization, it is unacceptable that three migrant children died in 2019 in the custody of the Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a figure similar to 2018, which then formed the first cases of deaths of minors in a decade.
To the number of deceased children must also be added to the seven adults who died in CBP custody, and the six in custody of the Office of Immigration and Customs Services (ICE), which in general have been attributed to the poor conditions of medical care in these facilities.
In 2019, the Trump Administration recorded a maximum of 55,000 detainees per day, even though official documents revealed "heinous violations" in the detention center rules, including forced feeding of hunger strike detainees, HRW said.
In addition to raids on work sites and other abuses against immigrants, the Administration achieved significant infusions of Congress funds for immigration agencies without legislators demanding greater transparency, oversight and accountability, the document stressed.
Also, in the international arena, HRW regretted that the president's government, Donald Trump, has done little to promote respect for human rights in the world, especially in the face of the deterioration of those rights in countries such as Russia and China.
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