Facing the prospect of remote clinic and remote client representation, the Immigrant and Non-Citizen Rights Clinic evening cohort took the opportunity to expand their reach to represent asylum-seekers stranded in Mexico under the Trump Administration’s “Migrant Protection Protocols,” [MPP] otherwise known as the “Remain in Mexico” Program. The Remain in Mexico program led to the creation of large refugee populations across the U.S.-Mexico border, forcing asylum seekers to live in squalid, life-threatening conditions while they indefinitely await their asylum hearings in the U.S. Only 5 out of every 100 individuals in this program gets access to an attorney and navigating a complex and ever-changing immigration process without counsel is overwhelming and often insurmountable. With these odds in mind, INRC attorneys and students set out to use their remote learning and representation capabilities to represent those beyond our southern border.
Working with the El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, INRC co-director Professor Nermeen Arastu and one of her law student teams, comprised of Stephanie Encarnacion, Andrea Parejo, Melissa Rodney, and Nick Sakover, were able to secure a rare victory. Their client was released from the MPP program, and then released from ICE custody in Texas and reunited with her eleven-year-old daughter after a nearly one-year separation. During this time, their client survived being twice kidnapped and sex trafficked. Denied entry to the U.S. under the MPP program, she was forced to overcome the physical and mental ramifications of this unspeakable trauma while isolated and in constant fear that her apprehenders would return
Here is their story.
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Above: Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center shares a Tiktok video created with Ms. Alma and her family at the moment of their reunification
Ms. Alma is a determined political activist from Honduras in her mid-30s. After fleeing political persecution in her home country to seek safety in the U.S., Ms. Alma was denied entry to the U.S. in Summer 2019 and effectively stranded in Mexico under the Trump Administration’s MPP Program. She would remain in Mexico for more than a year, while she indefinitely awaited her asylum hearing at the El Paso Immigration Court. Stephanie Encarnacion describes the magnitude of what fleeing one’s country to seek asylum in the U.S. means for many, “I think this is such important work because I know that many immigrants do not want to up and leave their entire life, all they know, their families, their country. They make this drastic decision usually out of desperation, and many times it is one made for them.”
While stranded in Mexico, Ms. Alma lived in isolation and fear; she was abducted twice, sex trafficked and forced to face the medical and mental health ramifications of the brutal rapes, detention, and trafficking she survived alone. She had been separated from her daughter after she urged her 11-year-old to hide in an oven from the sex traffickers. As her daughter hid, Ms. Alma was abducted by traffickers and her daughter was lost to her. For eleven months, Ms. Alma lived through the COVID-19 pandemic in fear of being abducted again and indefinitely separated from her young daughter who was able to cross safely into the United States alone.
To bring Ms. Alma to safety in the U.S. and reunite her with her daughter, the legal team would have to request the U.S. Government to parole her into the country during a period where, under stringent immigration policies passed in the name of security and public health, borders have remained completely closed and asylum hearings indefinitely shut down. These policies together with devastating changes to immigration law have effectively eviscerated asylum protections for those like Ms. Alma. To make their case under these unlikely circumstances, the legal team worked to corroborate Ms. Alma’s accounts of persecution in Mexico, communicating with Ms. Alma remotely to piece together her narrative, advocated for congressional support, and prepared her for a 5-hour interview with the Department of Homeland Security to prove her fears. Later when she was allowed to enter the U.S., the legal team advocated for her release from a U.S. detention facility highlighting her vulnerabilities to COVID-19. “Although it was terrifying, working to protect our client from a dangerous Trump policy during the added toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, at the end of the day it was those fears that fueled our work. I can’t imagine we would have had success for our client if not for her sheer perseverance and determination. I feel blessed to have been part of this team,” said Andrea Parejo.
“Ms. Alma was placed in MPP in one of the most dangerous cities on the planet,” says Nick Sakover. “The horrific events she suffered were predictable and preventable. She asked for help at every opportunity and was refused. It resulted in a mother being ripped away from her daughter. We reviewed the case file and at once understood the gravity of the situation. We immediately outlined our next steps, but getting her out of MPP was going to be a herculean task. A humanitarian parole application was our only choice, and such applications were already infamous for being denied without rhyme or reason. However, we had help. Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center provided us assistance and advice from the border. Professor Arastu provided guidance and support at every turn.”
Nick goes on, “As a team, we got to work researching Department of Homeland Security guidance, current changes in immigration, and applicable international law. We listened to our client and stayed faithful to her story while translating it into a legal harm our immigration system should remedy. We gathered country reports, translated documents, researched case law, and modified countless drafts. We submitted the humanitarian parole packet and waited. When we got word that a non-refoulement interview would be granted we were thrilled, but this meant our client would have to recount all her trauma, all over again. We knew this would be hard, but also that it was the only shot she might get at a life-saving chance to enter the U.S. She was ready. The strength she displayed through a complicated and exhausting interview was incredible. She knew what she had survived, and she told it in her voice. She passed. After a short (and unnecessary) stay in a detention center we were able to secure her release by highlighting her vulnerabilities to COVID, and Ms. Alma made it home to see her daughter in time for Thanksgiving. It took a village to move mountains so a mother could hug her daughter again. And I could not be prouder to be a part of this village.”
Melissa Rodney reflects on their client-centered approach, noting that students undertook this work while balancing full-time day jobs as evening students: “This semester I learned that being an advocate means allowing our client to tell their truth and tell it well. Our legal support was just that: support for a client who advocated zealously for themselves to get out of MPP. I worked with an amazing team of evening students, attorneys, interpreters, and psychiatrists who all collaborated to support an incredible client. Even in the midst of the pandemic, and our day jobs, we managed to remain in constant communication with the client and each other to provide the best kind of legal support.”
Stephanie Encarnacion’s reflection shares an expression of gratitude for the great privilege of working with our client and the importance of forming a legal team intimately aware of and connected to the injustices our client experienced. “I am so grateful to have the privilege of being able to help other people, especially the kind of people that I grew up around. I lived in Miami for many years; several of my friends were undocumented, and so were their parents. The support you offer clients will make all the difference. Just when they feel like giving up, a few words from you could make all the difference. Their perseverance and resilience is so admirable and inspiring. The clients are truly the narrator of their story, and our role is simply to ensure this story is heard and availed. We help them tell their story and guide them towards their goal.”
For Ms. Alma entry to the U.S. was only the beginning of a long journey many in her shoes face to gain permanent status in the U.S. as asylum seekers. Ms. Alma is now pursuing her asylum case before the Immigration Court system from within the United States. If she prevails, she will be eligible for a greencard in the future and may one day be a naturalized U.S. Citizen. Her story highlights the resilience and courage that asylum-seekers embody, and the importance of access to counsel so these survivors may gain the benefits and protections they deserve as a matter of human rights.
The Immigrant and Non-Citizen Rights Clinic at the CUNY School of Law sends gratitude to their partners and collaborators on this case, Crystal Sandovar, Nicolas Palazzo, and Brooke Biscoff at The Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Amelia Biramian at KIND-NJ, Taylor Levy, and Physicians for Human Rights. We also thank fellow INRC-PM colleagues Peter Meegan, Kwan Lee & Michelle Weiss, and co-professors Talia Peleg, Golnaz Fakhimi, and Mark Doss for their support and encouragement.