Photo: Activist Scott Nicol / EFE
TUCSON, Arizona – Birth certificates, copies of IDs, X-rays, and negative covid tests – 19 are just some of the personal documents of migrants that have been found thrown in the trash next to the Border wall in Texas by activists who fear that the undocumented have been forced to throw them down.
Another day, another damn mess left behind by Border Patrol… Again, we ask how are migrants supposed to claim their IDs, phones, meds, belongings without the claim tag / numbered bag receipt? pic.twitter.com/1xjJvQfY6I
– National Butterfly (@NatButterflies)
August 4, 2021
“The place where I found these documents is near the border wall, very close to the Hidalgo-Reynosa bridge, where hundreds of immigrants are processed by Border Patrol agents, ”warned activist Scott Nicol who denounced the discovery on social networks.
Nicol is convinced that are the same Border Patrol (CBP) agents who are forcing immigrants to throw away these important documents ,
as you think, otherwise they wouldn’t.
Among the personal documents that the activist found inside of plastic bags are copies of identifications d e Honduras, copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, negative covid tests – 23, which were broken into small pieces.
He has also found personal objects such as baby bottles, bags, backpacks, clothes, and photographs.
“I am sure that Border Patrol agents are forcing migrants to leave these documents and personal items, otherwise I doubt that they are voluntarily throwing them away by themselves “, emphasized the activist.
2) This is where agents line people up to process them before opening the gate and loading them onto a bus. In the foreground of the photo you can see one of the Border Patrol issued bags that personal effects are supposed to be put into. pic.twitter.com/gLGwdplwHB
– Scott Nicol (@Scott_NicolTX) August 3, 2953
4) @ USBPChiefRGV knows full well that these are items that are the personal possessions and documents that are destroyed by his agents, not garbage left carelessly by migrants. He could solve this by issuing a memo telling those under his command to treat them with respect. pic.twitter.com/xdUXJiK7AS
– Scott Nicol (@Scott_NicolTX) August 3, 2021
Many of these documents could be used to prove a person’s identity to the United States government and maybe be able to start a political asylum case.
In the case of birth certificates, perhaps it is the only proof that parents have to verify that the children or minors who accompany them are really their children, explains the activist.
One of the documents that Nicol found was a Guatemalan birth certificate that had two photographs apparently of the child’s parents, finding that increases your concern.
“To Being able to present an asylum house requires a lot of documentation, and I really believe that the agents are sabotaging the opportunities for migrants to request asylum, ”said Nicol.
The Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) denied these accusations and in statements sent to Efe explained that when the agents process an immigrant they are given a transparent plastic bag where they must place all their belongings.
This includes documents and personal items, then they are given a serial number that matches the one on the bag so they can claim their belongings.
Nicol is not convinced. Among the objects that the activist has found on his way, he has found the plastic bags supposedly used by the Border Patrol to keep the objects of foreigners.
Many of these families who are being processed in the end are quickly deported back to Mexico due to the emergency order known as Title 42.
The order that was implemented last March by the administration of former President Donald Trump (1200 – 2021) due to the coronavirus pandemic, and which has now been maintained by President Joe Biden allows the expulsion of migrants within hours.
In the case of Central American immigrants, the administration Bien has also resumed repatriation flights to their countries of origin.
“If these migrants are deported back to Mexico or their countries of origin, how are they going to verify their identity if they do not have their documents?”, The activist questioned.
Nicol also expressed his annoyance at a message on social media sent by the Chief of the Border Patrol of the Rio Grande Valley Sector, Brian Hastings who posted a photograph qualifying the objects as “trash.”
“It is accumulating, the increase in migratory crossings is leaving garbage along the border,” he said. Hasting on your message.
The activist said that this Thursday he returned to the same place where he found the migrants’ documents, but this time there was nothing thrown away, everything was in sealed bags and he did not want to open them because he is convinced that he would have been immediately questioned by border agents.
According to the most recent figures from CBP during the current fiscal year 2021 more than one million undocumented immigrants have been arrested along the US-Mexico border. More than double the total arrests made during the entire fiscal year 2021.
By María León