Reynosa Update March 20, 2020
by Jennifer Harbury
This update on Reynosa is long overdue. Things have been changing so fast its been hard to keep up.
The shelters in Reynosa began to fill to overflowing once again in December, just as the cold arrived. Thanks to Church World Services we were able to get a lot of blankets to them. The new people were coming in from Africa, Haiti, and Central America for the most part. The big change has been an abrupt and very sharp rise in Mexicans arriving from Tabasco, Guerrero and Michoacán. There have always been asylum seekers from that region, which has been hard hit by the cartel wars for many years now. But the violence there exploded since last November. People are showing me photographs of themselves black and blue from head to foot, and with badly battered faces. One foto shows three men being lead away, their hands tied behind their backs, and hitched to the person behind them. The following foto shows a large pit with the severed limbs and heads of more than one person. In many areas, schools have closed due to the kidnapping of children. There are many reports of children be killed to punish their parents for disobedience to the gangs….or to sell them for their organs. There were reports of several children found dead, with their torsos hollowed out. Many pre-teens are being taken for trafficking or forced recruitment as well. Some families reported being run out of their homes at gunpoint, past burning houses and vehicles, and past dead bodies on the ground. They are told their lands are confiscated. Many have fled to avoid being forced to work with either cartel, but if they end up going back, their flight is also a punishable offense. These people are arriving totally shell shocked. So too, anyone arriving from Cameroon; most of whom fled village massacres and have no idea where their families are.
For whatever reason, the Mexican government stopped sending assistance to the shelter, leaving the Pastor to deal with a sharply rising population, no food funds and no school. The Angry Tias have stepped in and we are providing funding for at least a full month. There are no teachers either. At least the Medicos Sin Fronteras team is still there…though this a badly needed trauma team, they can also assist in medical needs. Needless to say, the corona virus is no help. The shelters could be shut down at any time. I was last there on Monday and am now sheltering in place. I am willing to continue crossing if that is permitted and justifiable, and then self isolate back in US. But I fear the bridge may close down soon as well. CBP calls the shelters every morning to say how many AS may cross that day. Right only about 5 or so. The Tias helped set up better wifi and several computer stations, so we may be able to work face to face via internet very soon.
Meanwhile of course, the combined new HARP, PACR and the Guatemala safe nation status has proven deadly. We were all delighted with the great new 9th Circuit case, declaring the MPP program unlawful. But the injunction was promptly stayed while the case goes to the Supreme Court. So people remain trapped in Tamaulipas, the most dangerous area. On the heels of the 9th Circuit decision, we got PACR and HARP and the Guatemala flights. The people from Guerrero and Michoacan were cannon fodder. They crossed lawfully, and were taken into custody by CBP. In theory they were allowed phone access, but many reported being told that they were told that the “telephone officer” was not available, or that they would have to wait. Most went to CFI within a day with absolutely no legal advice or prepping. Many reported unfair hearings, with the officer cutting them short or telling them they could only answer yes or no. They were not really allowed to tell their stories, and understood they never would be. The great majority, despite the atrocious facts, were given a negative. Even the IJs were confirming the negatives in almost all cases. One man showed me the papers he was given. The right to appeal was on a form in English. Most people are getting only English forms. Some were told they could appeal but they would then spend a lot more time in the hielera-like conditions. As for conditions, I got quite varied reports. Some were treated ok, though the food was terrible and it was very cold. But they got some showers and medical care. Others tell me they slept sitting on chairs the first night, with their kids, then were separated into crowded dormitories. A pregnant woman told me she did not get adequate food, even when she wept and told the guards how hungry she was. Other families also reported being hungry. In the dorms most got one shower only in the 5-7 days they were there. They slept on small mats on the floor with only the aluminum blankets, which left them suffering from the cold. One woman reported that most of the children in her dorm were vomiting, and that one was in danger the day she left. The guards provided no medical care for them.
When I saw these families back at the shelter they were very hungry, hopeless, and exhausted. Many seemed to have given up. We spoke for a while but most were heading back towards Guerrero and Michoacan, hoping to hide out somehow in a new town and a friend or relatives house. They thought about court action but in the end shrugged. “Los Estados Unidos, pues no.” The U.S. was not an option. Nor would most places in Mexico be safe. The Familia and Nuevo Generacion have long tentacles and people from the Guerrero region are easily identified by looks and accents. Even in more remote places, other gangs target them as vulnerable outsiders. One young woman fled a sexual assault back home, only to be assaulted again in Cuernavaca. Not a lot of options. So they slung their kids over their shoulders and walked back out the gates to….what? Where?
Meanwhile the whole concept of sending people to Guatemala seems like a cruel joke. It has an extremely high femicide rate and virtually no prosecutions…and fiendish cartel and government repression as well. Many AS seekers are from Guatemala, and for goo reason. I hear that the majority of people we send there are women and children, and that they get one or two nights in the local shelter, and that’s it.
And now coronavirus will lock people into northern Mexico even worse. People are terrified of being quarantined in the shelter….which would be much like the Princess cruise experience. So they are moving into unsafe apartments outside the walls. The stores have been ransacked by US folks bent on stockpiling. AS seekers have been through hell physically and many will be high risk patients.
The Angry Tias will keep the shelters well stocked and with decent communications systems in place. For now the virus has not spread much into Northern Mexico but it will. As medical needs shift we will see how we can best assist.
Jennifer Harbury
Jennifer Harbury
