Under the US “Remain in Mexico” policy—officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)—vulnerable people seeking asylum in the US are being sent back to dangerous places in Mexico to wait out their legal proceedings. Far from protecting migrants, this policy sends people who have fled extreme violence and poverty to areas where they are often targeted by criminal gangs.
The US is sending asylum seekers to notoriously violent cities including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, and Reynosa, all in Tamaulipas state. The US State Department has issued a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” warning for Tamaulipas, the same level it gives countries at war like Syria and Afghanistan. Migrants and asylum seekers sent to these places have been victims of kidnapping, torture, and extortion.
