What Is Unlawful is Turning Away Asylum Seekers / by Karie Luidens

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Turned Away at the Border

“There isn't enough space”: Customs and Border Protection tells a young Guatemalan migrant seeking asylum to go back to Mexico.

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Facebook video
Posted Monday, April 29, 2019
https://www.facebook.com/ajplusenglish/videos/845876599109461/

U.S. border agent, standing in the center of an international bridge, speaking to a Guatemalan girl attempting to to cross from Mexico into the U.S. to claim asylum: Did you hear that more than 100,000 people are coming every month? That’s a lot of people. There isn’t enough space and so Mexico has been so gracious in helping us provide lodging to people.

Cynthia Pompa, ACLU Border Rights Center, explaining the scene to the camera: A young migrant girl showed up to present herself at a port of entry and was told by a CBP official that she needed to go back and find an agent, a Mexican agent, and get herself on a list. She was really confused and lost.

I saw a young boy who showed up by himself to request asylum.

What is unlawful is how CBP is standing in the middle of international bridges, right on the international line, turning away asylum seekers.