The right to seek asylum simply does not exist at the border, and vulnerable people are stranded with border organizations—who themselves could now be subject to retaliation and criminalization from the U.S. government— struggling to prevent an even bigger humanitarian disaster.

Amnesty International has found that the right to seek asylum in the United States is non-existent at the U.S.-Mexico border, in violation of U.S. human rights national and international obligations. The organization outlined its findings in a new briefing released today, which documents the treatment of people seeking safety in the United States interviewed between February 3-9 at the border.

These alarming findings stem from the Trump administration’s executive actions and the increased militarization of the border by the Mexican government.

The briefing, Lives in Limbo: Devastating Impacts of Trump’s Migration and Asylum Policies, outlines the complete gutting of the right to seek asylum by the U.S. government at the U.S.-Mexico border, with virtually no way for people seeking safety to go through the legal process. According to U.S. immigration law, people can seek asylum regardless of their manner of entry and only may apply once they are within the U.S.

The organization concluded in its research findings that while the mandatory use of the CBP One App to seek asylum was unlawful, the end of its usage has ultimately left tens of thousands of people stranded in Mexico with nowhere to go – even unaccompanied minors are stuck without a way to seek safety.

Without CPB One appointments, people are trapped in risky and precarious situations on the southern side of the border, which is especially dangerous for Mexican asylum seekers. Amnesty conducted interviews with dozens of people experiencing the impact of this change in border policies and those testimonies are provided in the briefing.

Along with targeted ICE enforcement across the U.S., the Trump administration has dismantled the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and ended rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution like birthright citizenship, along with other anticipated actions rooted in racism and white supremacy.

“The Trump administration has made the U.S.-Mexico border a zone that is overtly hostile to human rights and displays utter disregard for the humanity and dignity of people on the move,” said Amy Fischer, Director of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Program at Amnesty International USA. “The right to seek asylum simply does not exist at the border, and vulnerable people are stranded with border organizations—who themselves could now be subject to retaliation and criminalization from the U.S. government— struggling to prevent an even bigger humanitarian disaster.”

The Trump administration has made the U.S.-Mexico border a zone that is overtly hostile to human rights and displays utter disregard for the humanity and dignity of people on the move

-Amy Fischer, Director of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Program at Amnesty International 

This timely research comes within the broader context of the Trump administration’s stripping of funding for crucial humanitarian organizations working at the border that received money from USAID and other government programs whose funding is now frozen.

Humanitarian and immigration organizations that operate on the border to provide shelter, legal orientation, and humanitarian care to people seeking safety are also now facing a crisis as they are left with no financial means to continue to operate and carry on their life-saving work.

“Shelters at the border struggle to tell children that they have no options left,” added Mary Kapron, Amnesty International’s Researcher. “Many of the kids barely understand what is happening to them in the first place. And those who do are left with an impossible decision: either go back to where they fled and understand that they may not survive or put their lives in the hands of traffickers.”

Shelters at the border struggle to tell children that they have no options left. Many of the kids barely understand what is happening to them in the first place. And those who do are left with an impossible decision: either go back to where they fled and understand that they may not survive or put their lives in the hands of traffickers

-Mary Kapron, Amnesty International’s Researcher

In Mexico, the government deepened the militarization at the border by sending 10,000 new members of the Mexican military, fueling a climate of fear among people seeking safety and leading to mass detention and deportation.

“The fact that it is now impossible to seek asylum at the border places Mexicans seeking safety at particular risk,” said Mónica Oehler Toca, Amnesty International’s Researcher. “Unlike individuals of other nationalities, they are fleeing persecution in Mexico and now have no way of seeking international protection in the United States.”

Amnesty International continues to call on the United States to urgently adopt solutions that abide by human rights obligations and to stop playing politics and stoking fear with people’s lives to facilitate the adoption of increasingly draconian border and immigration policies that violate the human rights of people seeking safety, fuel violence against Black, brown, and Indigenous communities, and exacerbate the dysfunction of an already-beleaguered immigration system. 

The fact that it is now impossible to seek asylum at the border places Mexicans seeking safety at particular risk. Unlike individuals of other nationalities, they are fleeing persecution in Mexico and now have no way of seeking international protection in the United States

-Mónica Oehler Toca, Amnesty International’s Researcher

The organization also calls on the Mexican government to cease collaboration with the U.S. on harmful immigration policies and immediately implement measures to ensure the safety and security of asylum seekers transiting through Mexico.

Finally, Amnesty International will continue to document human rights abuses, advocate for the human rights of all immigrants and people seeking safety in the United States and hold U.S. and Mexican government officials accountable.