- 2 weeks ago
This video was originally published on Vice in May 2020 and is being repurposed now by Refinery29.
Soon after President Biden took office, he began to unwind the Trump Administration’s “Migrant Protection Protocol” - or the Remain in Mexico policy - which had forced vulnerable asylum seekers to wait in Mexico as their cases were processed, trapping them in dangerous living conditions without adequate medical services. But in December 2021, the Biden Administration was sued by the states of Missouri and Texas, causing his administration to reinstate the policy and send asylum seekers back to Mexico.
Weeks before the COVID-19 outbreak in North America, VICE's Paola Ramos traveled to what was, at the time, the largest refugee camp on the U.S.-Mexico border in Matamoros, Mexico that had sprung up in the wake of Trump's “Migrant Protection Protocol” policy. At its peak, the camp held almost 2000 migrants, a majority of which were women and children. In its early days, with the absence of governmental aid, migrants relied on a network of NGOs and volunteers to provide services in the camp.
Although the Matamoros camp and its inhabitants have since been dispersed elsewhere, this story sheds light on what reinstating “MPP” could mean for asylum seekers today. In this piece, we meet Cuban doctor Dairon Elisondo Rodriguez, a fellow asylee, who treats patients while he waits for his own asylum hearing, and follow group of mothers hoping to cross the border to bring their medically high-risk children to safety.
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Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/
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https://youtu.be/4lo9WLDUWeQ
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https://youtu.be/QxuofwWAPno
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https://youtu.be/BwhPqG9qB3g
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Soon after President Biden took office, he began to unwind the Trump Administration’s “Migrant Protection Protocol” - or the Remain in Mexico policy - which had forced vulnerable asylum seekers to wait in Mexico as their cases were processed, trapping them in dangerous living conditions without adequate medical services. But in December 2021, the Biden Administration was sued by the states of Missouri and Texas, causing his administration to reinstate the policy and send asylum seekers back to Mexico.
Weeks before the COVID-19 outbreak in North America, VICE's Paola Ramos traveled to what was, at the time, the largest refugee camp on the U.S.-Mexico border in Matamoros, Mexico that had sprung up in the wake of Trump's “Migrant Protection Protocol” policy. At its peak, the camp held almost 2000 migrants, a majority of which were women and children. In its early days, with the absence of governmental aid, migrants relied on a network of NGOs and volunteers to provide services in the camp.
Although the Matamoros camp and its inhabitants have since been dispersed elsewhere, this story sheds light on what reinstating “MPP” could mean for asylum seekers today. In this piece, we meet Cuban doctor Dairon Elisondo Rodriguez, a fellow asylee, who treats patients while he waits for his own asylum hearing, and follow group of mothers hoping to cross the border to bring their medically high-risk children to safety.
ABOUT REFINERY29
Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/
RELATED CONTENT
Inside The Women Only Villages Of Kenya
https://youtu.be/4lo9WLDUWeQ
The Banning Of Egg Freezing In Asia
https://youtu.be/QxuofwWAPno
Inside LulaRoe: Why Women Left The MLM
https://youtu.be/BwhPqG9qB3g
SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29
Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29
Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/
Follow Somos on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29somos/
Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/
Category
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LifestyleTranscript
00:25He has a, it really looks like an effusion.
00:28By U.S. policy, this child should not be able to cross.
00:30Absolutely.
00:33On the other side is the United States. We're about to reach that line right here.
00:38These children are the same. These are your daughters.
00:41What does it mean for them if they get turned away?
00:43It means we're going to try again.
01:02I've got people living five and ten in a tent.
01:05If someone gets sick, they all get sick.
01:11The path of walking here is very dangerous.
01:14And if we reach here, I think the rest is the most simple way.
01:27Where we're standing right now, or really from anywhere in the United States,
01:30you would almost never know that there's a humanitarian crisis happening in plain sight,
01:34right behind me.
01:38On the banks of the Rio Grande, across the river from Brownsville, Texas,
01:42thousands of migrants have been forced to seek refuge in a sprawling tent city
01:45while they wait to get into the U.S.
01:50For decades, U.S. law has allowed people to seek asylum at ports of entry along its southern border
01:55and to stay within the U.S. while those cases are pending.
01:58That changed in January 2019.
02:01Over a year ago, the Trump administration enacted MPP,
02:04which is also known as the Remain in Mexico policy.
02:06Now, under that policy, there are thousands of refugees that are escaping very violent and dangerous situations
02:12from Central America and other countries that are now being forced to remain in Mexico
02:16before they can seek asylum in the United States.
02:19The policy has left thousands of asylum seekers stuck in dangerous cities along the Mexican border
02:24while they wait for their court dates in the U.S.
02:26And both the Mexican government and international organizations
02:29are scrambling to provide resources to a vulnerable population
02:32that lacks access to basic provisions like clean water and adequate healthcare.
02:39This didn't exist before September. This was a soccer field.
02:45Is this a humanitarian crisis?
02:46Yes. What we're experiencing right now?
02:48Yes. We do the best with what we have here.
02:50We have limited resources here. We have limited diagnostics here.
02:58No, no, no!
03:01No, no, no!
03:03No, no, no!
03:10If I don't put gas in there, that's going to cause infection, because that's the
03:16blood pressure. If she takes a bacteria there, she will end up losing her leg.
03:20So it will be worse. I don't know if many of the patients were out there if the clinic
03:26wouldn't have been here. If the clinic wouldn't have been here, it would be very different
03:33for them. It's very different.
03:38No human being should live like that, more than the majority of the population
03:42in this camp are children. Each person always comes with at least one or two children.
03:48So these are the conditions that are propitious for the children who are sick.
03:51Is there something, doctor, that you fear now?
03:55Yes, that there could be an outbreak, an epidemic or something here.
03:59Is it possible?
04:00Is it possible?
04:01Is it possible?
04:02Is it possible?
04:02Yes, it can happen.
04:05The same way in which they cook their food, the humus that they are
04:08that they are suffering from the respirator.
04:11The same conditions in which they go to the bathroom, they also create
04:15diseases, whether bacteria or bacteria.
04:17This, when it breaks the air, all that they do, they do that
04:20constantly with the patients.
04:22The parásitos, the infections of stomachs.
04:25And if it's raining, it's raining.
04:26All this here is a lot of people.
04:28That can cause a epidemic here in the camp.
04:32Even if the clinic is well equipped,
04:34I could not face this situation.
04:37These are no conditions for anyone.
04:45I wash my hands so they can be clean for any bacteria.
04:58All of the people who have cooked food, some of us buy a thing, others buy a thing.
05:02That's why they help them.
05:04Arroz, frijol and coffee.
05:06Yes, yes.
05:07Yes, yes, yes.
05:08Do you like the food that you do your mami?
05:10A veces no.
05:15Here? Ah, very good.
05:17And here is where we sleep, here is where we go all night.
05:21And this is the hygiene paper that they have for the bathroom?
05:24Yes.
05:25Really live from this?
05:26Yes, they also give us a gift.
05:28Sometimes we fight the place, because I always sleep on the edge,
05:31because I'm on the edge of protection.
05:32I put them in the corner and they don't want to sleep there.
05:34So that you protect them here?
05:36Yes.
05:36You do your monkey.
05:36Yes, I'm here.
05:38And they just don't want to sleep.
05:38It's your house.
05:39It's your house.
05:40This is my house.
05:41Here we have everything.
05:43Everything we have is this.
05:44It's yours.
05:45You were being persecuted by the Mara in your house in Honduras, right?
05:49Yes.
05:50First in a department and now in the other.
05:52Here is the door.
05:54So the Mara destroyed the door to enter in the house.
05:57Yes.
05:58I would have been sent to another department, but they always find it.
06:02For them, there is no one.
06:03I would have been in the house and I could have been hiding.
06:05I would have been in the house.
06:06I always look at my house.
06:08Thanks.
06:09Hello.
06:10Hello.
06:11Hello.
06:11Hello.
06:12Hello.
06:12Hello.
06:14Hello.
06:20Hello.
06:26This is my police!
06:32Hello.
06:33Oh,, Hi.
06:34Well, hello.
06:35Hi.
06:37Hello.
06:43Hi.
06:51Hello.
06:51What's your line?
06:51We only listen to it because we don't have protection.
06:54At night we're not alone.
06:56And this is your son?
06:57This is Alan.
06:59How old is Alan?
07:01How old is Alan?
07:0210.
07:0310 years old.
07:05He is Alan and he is suffering a lot here.
07:07We've had strong struggles.
07:13How many times has he tried to cross with his son in the United States?
07:166 times.
07:176 times?
07:20One of the reasons he wants to cross with his son is because his son is autistic.
07:24He is autistic and he has a bacteria in the stomach.
07:26If I don't give him his medications, he will be able to develop cancer.
07:32So, that makes me bad.
07:36His son has a medical risk very serious.
07:39I took care of a doctor.
07:41He did the exam and told me he has the bacteria active.
07:46I don't know.
07:47He has medications and I can't give them.
07:50He doesn't have any medications.
07:51I want to work.
07:52I want to give him to my son to see him big.
07:54I want to see him.
07:56We're afraid we're going to get sick of something.
08:01I want to see him.
08:05I want to see him.
08:06I want to see him.
08:17I want to see him.
08:18I want to stop it.
08:21I want to see him because I usually do not live.
08:36Ms.
08:36and from the United States you come here.
08:37I'm not an American, I'm a migrant,
08:39like you are in this situation,
08:42because you're a migrant, like you are.
08:51This has become a house outside of Cuba.
08:54Yes, yes.
08:55Five people live here.
08:56Yes, but sometimes we live in seven, eight.
08:59To the music,
09:01I'm going to pee.
09:01You are so Ribe.
09:04Jamaica,
09:05That's what the sea that words about Havana,
09:06like the classic balcony,
09:09the tiny view to the place.
09:10It really makes you嗨大inesa
09:14of the island
09:15from afar.
09:17Let's go to the classic Azotea.
09:20You see someände
09:22saying that
09:24Cuba lives every day.
09:29Cuba nunca pierde las esperanzas de que las cosas van a mejorar, de que vas a llegar, de que lo
09:34vas a conseguir,
09:35porque todos los que viven aquí están con el mismo objetivo.
09:38¿Cuál es ese objetivo?
09:40Todos quieren llegar a Estados Unidos. Todos, todos, todos quieren llegar a Estados Unidos.
09:43Todos vienen de una forma u otra huyendo de la isla por diferentes características,
09:48por diferentes situaciones de la vida, pero todos vienen hacia Estados Unidos.
09:54Nosotros ya no podemos merecer más la medicina dentro de Cuba.
09:57Y si regresamos, pues obvio. Solo de hecho de exponer la misión ya es suficiente como para que te encierren
10:03y no vuelvan a saber nada de ti. Esa humanitaria.
10:07En Venezuela no es más que una forma de intercambiar fuerzas de trabajo brutas por petróleo.
10:13Todo el fraude y todas las cosas que tienes que convivir en Venezuela.
10:17Y pues allí, nada, allí tienes que hacer una serie de cosas que a veces no todos compartimos.
10:21¿Y todas esas situaciones nos decepcionaron?
10:24En Cuba la ley no existe estandarizada.
10:27No es que si tú hiciste algo yo te voy a mandar con una orden de aprehensión en tu contra.
10:31En Cuba es de que entran, te toman la puerta, te montan en un carro, te desaparecen y no pasa
10:37nada.
10:43¿Tienen una hija?
10:44Sí, sí tenemos niños.
10:46¿Y de dónde están?
10:46¿En Cuba?
10:47Se quedaron en Cuba.
10:48Este viaje es muy peligroso para traerlos.
10:51Muchos se los roban en el camino, los asaltan, los atracan, los violan, los matan, los secuestran.
10:56El camino de recorrido de aquí es bien peligroso.
11:00Llevo a una clínica desde octubre.
11:03Es una manera de mantenerme fuera de mi situación.
11:07Mira, dos chupetas verdes.
11:09Pues es la niña más fuerte y más valiente que hay aquí en el campamento.
11:15Porque ahorita no hay una, como te explico, no hay una ventaja para nadie.
11:18Y todos saben que esta política pues ha endurecido un poco la migración a Estados Unidos.
11:37No, no, no, no, no, no.
11:53¿Qué?
11:54Sí.
11:55We had some chronically ill children.
11:57We've been trying to get across the border because they shouldn't be under this migrant protection protocol.
12:05Are we talking about life or death situations?
12:07Yeah.
12:08This is the way MPP is written.
12:11They are not supposed to be in these camps.
12:21Well, we're going on the bridge again, so we could use all the help we can get.
12:24We have four children with severe disabilities and we need to move them.
12:29And I've been denied twice.
12:31So when you walk up to the border and you present to children with a very severe condition, they will
12:36turn them away.
12:37Oh, they make us wait for a couple hours first.
12:40Aliens in the following categories are not amenable to MPP.
12:44Aliens in special circumstances, known physical slash mental health issues.
12:50We're telling them, here we have all sorts of reports done by specialists from the United States saying these children
12:56cannot be here.
12:57This is our big push.
13:00We're going to give them one chance more.
13:06We're about to go to the turnstiles to cross over the bridge.
13:11Okay.
13:12You walk across the bridge and there's actually like a little line, Mexican soil, American soil.
13:17Yeah.
13:18And we wait there.
13:20There's four total.
13:21There's four total.
13:23These are children and they're children with special needs and they're children that are the most vulnerable.
13:31What are you feeling right now?
13:32I'm going to do my best.
13:34I'm going to try and get them safe.
13:41Officer, thank you so much for coming out and talking to us.
13:43Yeah, she's done a lot of the medical stuff.
13:46So I'll let her describe Roger to you.
13:49Yeah.
13:49Okay.
13:50So Roger has Down syndrome.
13:53He also has severe microcephaly, meaning a very, very, very small.
14:00So I'm telling you.
14:02That's what I'm telling you.
14:03What process are we in?
14:04Are we just waiting now?
14:05Yes.
14:06Met with the supervisor.
14:07We've presented our paperwork.
14:09We've informed him of the conditions of the children that are here.
14:14And now we're just waiting for a decision.
14:16How long does that waiting period take?
14:19Often hours.
14:23Okay.
14:25I took it to my chain of command.
14:27Your request was considered, but it's been denied at this time.
14:31You can't tell me who it was, so we can please talk to them, maybe write them a letter?
14:38But who am I writing to?
14:40You can research that information at www.cvp.com.
14:44But how are we able to research it if you won't tell us?
14:48Yeah, I mean, which level?
14:49I'm just trying to get which level.
14:50It's above PowerPoint.
14:51That's all I can...
14:52And the reason for the denial?
14:55I cannot really discuss specific cases.
14:58Well, what I'm understanding is I'm going to get nothing.
15:00I mean, nothing else.
15:01I mean, these children are the same.
15:04These are your guidelines.
15:05So this is a reversal of these field guidelines then?
15:08Is that what Laredo is doing?
15:10I have to leave, but you got our response.
15:13Is there anything else you would like for me to come in before I leave?
15:16I am disappointed, but I guess we will have to deal with this.
15:20I'm just really confused.
15:22So thank you all very much.
15:24Thank you for your time.
15:25I wish you well.
15:32Thank you for your time.
16:03This place is the one that people have taken, the parents of their family and the mothers of their family
16:09when we decided to send to our children.
16:12Have you sent a son?
16:14I sent it to the older that was.
16:15I'll show you.
16:16How many years has his son?
16:1815.
16:19Or is it that he crossed with 15?
16:20Yes.
16:21And he decided to cross, because he didn't want to suffer anymore here.
16:27And here we've been bathed many times since we came to the other side, and he got sick a lot,
16:36and when he didn't stop it, he better went.
16:39I decided not to go back to bath or to wash this place.
16:44That's where he's going.
16:54When I saw him cross the river that came to the other side, I looked up to the street.
17:00Since I saw him there, I felt that he couldn't see him in person.
17:18And sometimes I cry not to have him at my side, but he tells me, Mom, it's going to be
17:22fine.
17:25It's a lot to see that his children have a food plate and sleep well.
17:42Well, there's always someone who is super-antipatic.
17:45Yes.
17:46Those bullies, they call me.
17:48Well, they're not bullies, but they're the ones who leave, and they don't care to anyone.
17:52Yes, yes, yes.
17:54There's always a person in school.
17:56I saw some images that your mom taught me when you crossed the river.
18:01Oh, yes.
18:02Did you have any fear at that time, or did you think about it?
18:06Well, not to get to the other side.
18:08That there was no fear, but I was just happy now.
18:13What was going on?
18:15But I also felt sad because I was leaving my family behind.
18:18Thanks to my mom, I was able to get here because I was sick in Mexico.
18:26And without her, I don't think I could have achieved it.
18:30Here in this house, who lives with you?
18:32With my auntie.
18:35Your auntie was already here?
18:36Yes.
18:37I was very happy because I had to come back to her for 10 years ago.
18:42How did I meet her?
18:44When I went to the airport, I couldn't believe it.
18:49He was very big.
18:50He was very big.
18:51Wow.
18:52At least when I came back, I was 18 years old.
18:56And he was only 15 years old.
18:58It's not easy.
18:59Yes, that's what I told you about.
19:00Although he has 15 years old, he lived the experiences that many adults have lived in their lives.
19:05Yes.
19:09Hello.
19:11Hello, my love.
19:12How are you?
19:13Hello, my love.
19:13Good.
19:14We're good, my love.
19:15We're going to the class.
19:17That Juan Luis disappeared.
19:19And now Alan is looking for him.
19:20Because we don't know where he was.
19:22As always.
19:24If you're good, I'm fine.
19:26I'm fine.
19:26I'm fine.
19:27I'm fine.
19:31Hello, Erwin.
19:32Hello.
19:33Hello.
19:36I'm fine.
19:36I'm fine.
19:38I'm fine.
19:40I'm fine.
20:01I'm fine.
20:05I'm fine.
20:06I can't look for a dog.
20:10I don't want to sit there.
20:11I don't want to sit there.
20:18I don't want to be.
20:22I'm going to go by here, by these places where we were sitting.
20:25I don't remember where we were sitting there.
20:28Yeah.
20:31I'll be there someday, my God, we'll be together again.
20:35Ojalá.
20:37Uh.
20:42There's a possibility that your mother can't enter this country.
20:48There's a possibility that she rejects.
20:51If that happens, what would you think?
20:55I'll do what possible to improve me in this country.
21:03To help her.
21:09Well, I'm concerned that I have to finish my school.
21:13To be someone here, I've repeated it a lot.
21:16Now that you're in the United States, what's going on with your legal case?
21:20Well, I have to go to court.
21:22And they'll decide what's going on.
21:26Have you ever lost hope?
21:30No.
21:31I've always lost hope.
21:33Like your mother?
21:34Yes.
21:35I think I have that.
21:37Because I'm always positive.
21:39Tomorrow we're going to sing you.
21:41Is it your birthday?
21:42Yes.
21:43Oh, happy birthday!
21:45Is it your birthday?
21:45Tomorrow, the 29th.
21:50Every four years, birthday.
21:52If you want to sing you.
21:54How many birthday are you?
21:56Well, you better not tell us.
22:01Happy birthday!
22:03Happy birthday!
22:07Happy birthday!
22:12Happy birthday!
22:13Happy birthday!
22:14Happy birthday!
22:16Happy birthday!
22:16Happy birthday!
22:16Happy birthday!
22:16Happy birthday!
22:17Happy birthday!
22:17Happy birthday!
22:20Happy birthday!
22:20Happy birthday!
22:21Happy birthday!
22:23Happy birthday!
22:24Happy birthday!
22:24Happy birthday!
22:25Happy birthday!
22:25Happy birthday!
22:26Happy birthday!
22:27Happy birthday!
22:52There is an ideology in the United States that all immigrants who are here are the same.
22:57There is an idea that some are criminals, some are violators, and that they don't deserve to be in the
23:02United States.
23:03Here I am. I am a criminal.
23:08No look at the needle.
23:12Not all migrants, like my wife, are bad.
23:15Who wants to be? Who wants to be? Who wants to be? Who wants to be? Who wants to be?
23:18Who wants to be? Who wants to be? Who wants to be?
23:24There are doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, all people who are good, all people who are read, all people who are
23:32studied, all people who are going to the United States to sum up.
23:35They are not going to arrest.
23:38They are not going to be disabled.
23:46Do you know how I am?
23:51Do you know how I am?
23:53Can you see?
24:04We are very close, but also very far away.
24:07It causes impotence, sadness and pain.
24:11We want to be there.
24:35We want to be there.
24:36We are very close to the eyes.
24:37We are very close to the eyes.
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