Claudia Lucero – Page 5

1

April

Honduas Solidarity Network Statement on Pandemic in Honduras

April 1, 2020 Claudia Lucero Central America

Solidarity with the Honduran people in Pandemic Times: COVID-19, Another Weapon in the Hands of the Dictatorship

The U.S. and Canada-backed regime of Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) is using the very real dangers and fears of the
coronavirus pandemic to militarize the country, justify acts of corruption, destroyand further privatize public services, repress dissent, and criminalize poverty.

On March 15, 2020, without previous implementation of any minimal COVID-19 prevention measures, JOH implemented a nation-wide lockdown enforced by and managed by the Honduran military and police. The regime suspended numerous
constitutional guarantees, including the right to freedom of expression, freedom of movement, and freedom from arbitrary detention. The regime closed public spaces and many businesses, and, in the name of enforcing the lockdown, has carried out hundreds of arrests. Some of these arrests have been politically-motivated.

On March 17 in the southern city of Choluteca, the police surrounded the home of a well-known community activist, Aleyda Huete. The next day, Huete was released from jail after an international and national outcry against her arrest but still faces charges and death threats that are believed to grow out of her opposition to the JOH dictatorship. Journalists covering police evictions of the public markets are threatened to be put in government-run quarantine.

The Honduran government has used the crisis to justify freeing at least one individual indicted and jailed on corruption charges and also named in connection to JOH’s brother, Tony Hernandez’s drug trafficking activities. This is while the
government continues to ignore judicial motions and demands to free the eight Guapinol defenders and political prisoners that are at exceptional risk inside Honduran prisons.

Over the last few days, the desperation of the population in rural and urban areas has led to increased government attacks and repression. At the best of times, 60% of Hondurans live in poverty and half of that number live in extreme poverty. Approximately 70% of employment in Honduras is through the informal sector, and with the closure of street markets, small, road-side vendors, streets and parks, an emergency life and death situation is growing across the country.

With the extreme government-imposed measures, Hondurans are being forced to “lockdown and starve” and are unable to go to the streets in search of food, assistance, and whatever means to survive without facing arrest, harassment, and
repression. As the well-known Honduran human rights organization COFADEH explained: “A curfew can’t be obeyed when people are dying of hunger.” The already difficult economic, social, and political situation in Honduras has been
exacerbated by the pandemic, and again, Hondurans are being forced to confront the illegitimate, U.S. and Canada-backed JOH regime in the most extreme circumstances.

In early March, under the real threat posed by the global pandemic but when less than 3 COVID-19 cases were reported in the country at the time, the Honduran Congress used the crisis to approve over $420 million USD in alleged assistance to confront the crisis. In addition, the JOH government is requesting support from the international financial institutions that have turned a blind eye while feeding public corruption for several years. The Honduran Convergence Against Re-election fears that this money will never be audited and instead, used to line the pockets of the corrupt instead of addressing the public health crisis. As of March 29, there are 139 reported COVID-19 cases, 3 resulting deaths, and increasing economic and public health demands being made by the population.

Despite the availability of emergency funds, the government’s response to the crisis has been to politicize food packages, delivering small amounts of food aid only to families on the National Party’s election roster. With growing indignation and
desperation, people in several communities, municipalities, and urban neighbourhoods have taken to the streets and blocked roads, demanding that food and basic supplies be provided. These protests are met with repression, live
bullets, tear gas, and arrests. In addition, physicians, medical residents, and healthcare workers have walked off the job and continue to complain of the complete lack of basic medical protective equipment in the largest public hospitals
in the two major cities. These complaints add to the growing frustration of the intentional neglect of the public healthcare system which has been decimated by corrupt plundering and privatization efforts for several years.

The JOH government’s corruption is well-documented, whether it is theft of money designated for public health services that then found its way into JOH’s 2013 election funds or the bank accounts National Party officials and their family
members accused of theft of public funds, fraud, etc. Hondurans are outraged by the evidence presented in U.S. Federal Courts in New York during court proceedings against JOH’s brother Tony Hernandez, his cousin, and other narcotics traffickers that link JOH directly to drug cartels in Honduras, and the fact that, despite this evidence and the blatant corruption and violations of human rights, JOH is still supported politically and financially by the U.S. and Canadian
governments.

The Honduras Solidarity Network stands with the Honduran people and organizations who call for an end to the repression and corruption and demand urgent funds and resources for healthcare, food, and water for the Honduran
people. We also continue to stand with the people’s demands for an end to the U.S. and Canada-backed narco-dictatorship. Our governments must stop propping up an illegitimate and corrupt government in Honduras.

For daily updates on the situation in Honduras including possible calls to action,please visit:

Facebook: Honduras Solidarity Network
Twitter: @hondurassol

March 30, 2020

31

March

Sign Petition to Stop Deportations to Mexico and Central America

March 31, 2020 Claudia Lucero Action Alerts, Central America

Our friends at the Latin America Working Group (LAWG) are gathering signatures on a petition to President Trump and Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf to stop deportations to Mexico and Central America during the COVID-19 pandemic. While international travel is restricted during this health crisis, it is outrageous that the U.S. risks increasing spread of the coronavirus by deporting detained migrants. They already may have been exposed to the virus while in overcrowded detention centers. Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador have fragile and underfunded public health systems, which are having enough difficulties treating the coronavirus patients they already have.

Please read and sign the petition at the link below.

https://lawg.salsalabs.org/stopdeportations/index.html

For more information at LAWG, click here

“Central America Fears Trump Could Deport the Coronavirus” (Los Angeles Times)

26

March

COMUNICADO DE COFADEH: DICTADURA USA “ESTADO DE EXCEPCIÓN” PARA VIOLAR DERECHOS Y GARANTÍAS DURANTE LA PANDEMIA

March 26, 2020 Claudia Lucero Action Alerts

En Honduras, más de 500 personas han sido detenidas arbitrariamente y sometidas a torturas por las fuerzas armadas en diferentes ciudades valiéndose de un decreto ejecutivo (PCM 021-2020) emitido por el cuerpo de ministros del régimen el lunes 16 de marzo anterior. El país registra oficialmente 52 casos positivos al 25 de marzo y se desconoce el dato real de casos sospechosos entre una población víctima de una campaña oficial permanente de pánico, que está activando a su vez una conflictividad social entre los sectores más empobrecidos que carecen de reservas alimentarias y de medios suficientes para proveerse.
El Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH) advirtió el mismo lunes 16 de marzo que ese tipo de medidas extremas impuestas por el régimen violento, que enfrenta 10 años de desobediencia civil por su carácter ilegítimo, acabarían atacando a la población.
Los policías y militares, semi analfabetas, que hacen cumplir el decreto de emergencia, extendido al 29 de marzo en todo el país, no respetan protocolos internacionales sobre uso de la fuerza e impiden con brutalidad la libertad de locomoción, reunión, expresión, asociación, libertad personal y la inviolabilidad del domicilio.
En base a ese decreto central también las municipalidades han impuesto ordenanzas de toques de queda absolutos entre 48 y 72 horas en el Distrito Central, Comayagua, San Pedro Sula, Ceiba, Choluteca y El Progreso. También en Puerto Cortés y Santa Cruz de Yojoa, donde se registraron los primeros casos positivos por coronavirus.
En todas esas ciudades son las policías municipales o las fuerzas militares en general las que hacen cumplir las ordenanzas sin manuales de procedimientos en este tipo de emergencias.
En un barrio de Comayagüela, cinco hombres que el martes se acercaron a comer alrededor de una “olla común” preparada por mujeres defensoras de la Iniciativa Mesoamericana (IM) fueron detenidos y encerrados en una posta policial próxima, mientras las mujeres fueron conminadas a cancelar la actividad solidaria y encerrarse en sus casas.
Por las gestiones de IM y de este Comité, los hombres fueron liberados.
En Choluteca, Comayagua, San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, Puerto Cortés, Choloma, La Ceiba y El Progreso también hay reportes de detenciones arbitrarias seguidas de golpes, “sermones moralizantes”, insultos vulgares y torturas crueles en lugares aislados.
En el mejor de los casos, las personas privadas de libertad son liberadas fuera de los plazos que establece la Constitución, pero la decisión policial en general es mantenerlas encerradas “hasta que la emergencia finalice”.
Hay registro de detención? Hay remisión de casos a la Fiscalía? Son alimentados dignamente? Gozan de medidas de bioseguridad? Pueden comunicarse con sus familias? No hay respuestas aún a estas preguntas.
En los últimos días han sido virales las imágenes en una posta policial en la capital y una cancha deportiva en Siguatepeque donde la policía militar obliga a las personas detenidas a realizar entrenamientos militares y trabajos forzados, por “irrespetar” el toque de queda absoluto de la dictadura.
En casi la totalidad de los casos, las personas arrestadas realizaban misiones de aprovisionamiento alimentario o de medicamentos para sus familias.
En vista de los hechos hacemos un llamado a las instituciones con salvoconductos excepcionales para circular en el país, entre ellas el ministerio de Derechos Humanos y el Comisionado Nacional de Derechos Humanos, que aseguren el respeto a la integridad física y la vida de todas las personas detenidas. Asimisimo, llamamos a las Naciones Unidas a levantar un censo de detenciones arbitrarias y de tratos crueles durante esta emergencia sanitaria, porque el régimen oculta o minimiza los datos, con la misma lógica de conveniencia que maneja los contagios. El ocultamiento o manipulación de la información pública es un grave riesgo adicional para la vida y las libertades del pueblo hondureño en momentos cuando se impone la inmovilidad social por la fuerza. No debe tolerarse en ninguna circunstancia, peor en ésta. De los hechos y de los hechores, ni olvido ni perdón C O F A D E H Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 25 de marzo de 2020

26

March

Urgent call for Protection for Colombian Human Rights Defenders

March 26, 2020 Claudia Lucero Colombia, Edu. Colombia

Photo by Anton Darius on Unsplash

International Civil Society Organizations Call for the Colombian Government to Investigate Killing of Marco Rivadeneira and to Protect Human Rights Defenders March 25, 2020

We are grieved to learn of the death of Marco Rivadeneira, a community leader in Putumayo, Colombia. Rivadeneira was killed on March 19, 2020 by three armed men who entered a meeting where Rivadeneira and other community members were discussing voluntary eradication agreements between farmers and the Colombian government.

Rivadeneira was a human rights defender, a promoter of the peace accords, and a proponent of voluntary coca eradication efforts in his rural community. He was a leader of the Puerto Asis Campesino Association and a representative to the Guarantees Roundtable (a process intended to protect human rights defenders). Rivadeneira was also the representative of his region for the national network of 275 Colombian human rights groups known as the Coordinación Colombia Europa Estados Unidos. Coordinación and its members are close partners of many of our organizations.

This killing “underscores once again the lack of security guarantees for the work of human rights defenders and the lack of political will on the part of the Colombian government to dismantle the criminal structures and paramilitary organizations that continue to attack social leaders and those who defend peace in the countryside,” as Coordinación asserts. The Coordinación urges the government to act decisively to ensure that “enemies of peace” do not use the emergency situation created by the COVID-19 virus to continue to exterminate social leaders.

107 social leaders were assassinated in 2019, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights office in Colombia. One out of three human rights defenders killed in 2019 (documented by Frontline Defenders) was from Colombia. 2020 has started off with a wave of violence against them.

We urge the Colombian government to ensure this crime is effectively investigated and prosecuted and to communicate what steps are being taken to bring the perpetrators to justice. We also urge the Colombian government to provide effective guarantees for human rights defenders, social leaders, and those working to build peace in Colombia. This starts with the vigorous implementation of the 2016 peace accords in Colombia, including convoking the National Commission of Security Guarantees to create and implement a plan to protect communities and social leaders at risk.

We urge the U.S. government to vigorously support peace accord implementation in Colombia. This includes adhering to the drug policy chapter of the accord which mandates working closely with farming communities to voluntarily eradicate and replace coca with government assistance, rather than returning to ineffective and inhumane aerial spraying programs.

Colombia must not lose more leaders like Marco Rivadeneira who have worked so valiantly to bring human rights protections and peace to their communities.

Signed by:

AFL-CIO Amazon Watch Amnesty International U.S.A.
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) Church World Service Colombia Grassroots Support New Jersey Colombia Human Rights Committee Institute for Policy Studies Drug Policy Project International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights Latin America Working Group (LAWG) Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Movement for Peace in Colombia, New York Oxfam Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries Washington Office on Latin America Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective

19

March

CRLN Statement on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis

March 19, 2020 Claudia Lucero General

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

We here at CRLN take our responsibility to the more vulnerable members of our organization, our families and the larger community very seriously. We seek to be good global citizens during this unprecedented time of crisis for all of humanity. We embrace the science behind disease prevention and the wisdom of public health experts as well as the admonishment of our faith traditions to place the interest of “the least of these” above all other concerns. To that end, our staff have implemented best practices in regard to what is being popularly called “social distancing”. For the foreseeable future staff will be working from home so that we can minimize exposure for ourselves and more importantly vulnerable loved ones and community members to the rapidly spreading contagious disease known as COVID-19. We will postpone holding any events that involve public gatherings until further notice or come up with creative ways to make them into online events. This includes our planned Good Friday Walk for Justice. Although this is a difficult sacrifice for us as a people and an organization and really strikes at the core identity of who we are and how best to organize to advance our mission, the reality of the moment calls on us to take these unfortunate but necessary measures.

But we cannot be satisfied as an organization, as a community and as individuals with simply accepting and following these so-called best “social distancing” practices. We must endeavor to be creative and explore what it means collectively and individually to practice social distancing + social solidarity. A crisis like the one we are confronted with encourages all of the worst impulses and tendencies in our society and none of the “better angels of our nature” – xenophobia, fear, social isolation, atomization, selfishness, hoarding, increased state surveillance, eroding of civil liberties, etc. The standard antidotes to such tendencies – collective mass organizing and action – are exceedingly difficult in these circumstances; but they are not impossible. We must do all we can do to figure out the ways to make this solidarity concrete, real and safe. The staff also recognize that we are in a position of privilege with our work. It is rather easy for us to transfer the bulk of our work activity to our homes. This is not true for millions of members of the working class in this country and globally. These workers range from first responders like the nurses who are at the frontlines of the battle against the virus or custodians, food delivery workers and transit employees who remain essential to the safe functioning of our society and do not have the luxury of taking their work home. Millions of workers in the informal economy – day laborers, domestic workers – face truly dire straits in the current crisis with almost no hope of any help from the state. As always, these most marginalized workers are predominantly people of color and migrants, those whom our organization is meant to serve. They must be at the forefront of our thoughts at this time.

Looking around the globe we are amazed at the creativity and selflessness that common people and even some governments have demonstrated during this crisis to practice social solidarity. Everything from the beauty of the Italians singing to each other across the balconies of their quarantined homes in ancient Roman and medieval cities that have witnessed many plagues of centuries past, to the Cuban government which welcomed a stranded ship of hundreds tourists in the Caribbean who were denied safe harbor by all others for fear of contagion, to right here at home in the immigrant community of Pilsen where neighbors have signed up to buy groceries for elderly neighbors forced to shelter in place. Recently, within just days of the realization that the crisis would require new forms of organizing, online networks of labor, community and faith based social justice organizers have sprung up. One Facebook group, the “People’s Coronavirus Response”, went from two people to a network of over nearly 10,000 in a matter of a few days. A coalition in Chicago led by Arise Chicago, The Chicago Teachers Union, United Working Families, National Nurses United and a host of other groups has rapidly formed demanding that the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois enact a host of measures to provide a safety net for workers who will be displaced in the economic chaos of this crisis. Such developments give us great hope.

But there is so much yet to be done. In particular, we are very much concerned with how the crisis is likely to impact the migrant community in this country. There are the thousands currently languishing in detention facilities, which, along with the millions in our prisons, are some of the places most vulnerable to a rapid spread of the virus, a catastrophe waiting to happen. Immigration courts have begun to close down, as advocated by both immigration attorneys and immigrant rights organizations for the safety of all involved, but this is also possibly resulting in an increase in migrants and potential asylees facing immediate deportation rather than being afforded the opportunity to have their case heard. The Trump administration is embracing the xenophobic tendencies of the crisis, referring to the disease as a “foreign” invader and utilizing it to promote their wall building and deportation agenda. We must not let them get away with such truly evil manipulation of this human tragedy. Then there are those thousands of Central Americans forced to wait indefinitely in camps on the Mexican side of the border. Mercifully, the virus rates of transmission have so far remained lower in Mexico than in the U.S.; but this is unlikely to last, and these camps are likely to be hit hard when the virus spreads. Of course, the most direct and brutal impact is the increase in xenophobic-inspired violence, so far mostly targeting Asian-Americans and Asian immigrants, that is on the rise across the country.

So, I call on all members of the CRLN community to both be patient with our staff as we adjust to our new working conditions, but, more importantly, to help us navigate the new terrain. Offer us your creativity and ideas of how we can continue to advance our mission while remaining safe and protecting all. We welcome your input.

Sincerely,

Claudia Lucero, Executive Director

17

March

40th Anniversary Good Friday “Walk” for Justice Goes Digital!

March 17, 2020 Claudia Lucero Events

In light of the coronavirus pandemic and the CDC’s recommendation to suspend public gatherings for the next eight weeks, the April 10 Good Friday Walk for Justice, “Hope Rising in Courageous Community,” will take a different form this year.

Even though we cannot gather downtown and march together, WE CAN STILL PRAY! We will honor this 40th Anniversary Good Friday Walk for Justice by publishing our Prayer Booklet online at walkforjusticechicago.com. We encourage you to pray this modern-day Way-of-the-Cross on Good Friday in the safety of your homes with the members of your households.

The Prayer Booklet will be posted sometime after March 25, the deadline for receiving prayers from the groups who are planning each station. CRLN will write Station 4 this year. In the meantime, you can visit the link above to read more about this year’s theme and to find a donation button if you would like to sponsor the event.

During this extended period of social distancing, the need for “Hope Rising in Courageous Community” is more important than ever. Please share this resource widely, and take heart in the words of author and poet, Alice Walker, who reminds us that “Human sunrises are happening all over the earth,” and that the work to “bring peace, light, compassion” to this world shines on.

11

February

El Salvador’s President takes military into Legislative Assembly

February 11, 2020 Claudia Lucero Action Alerts, Central America

Last year, Guatemala experienced a constitutional crisis when former President Jimmy Morales ignored orders from the highest court in the land, ended the mandate of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (who had accused him of corruption), and surrounded their offices with tanks to force commissioners to leave the country. Now a constitutional crisis has erupted in El Salvador. Here’s what happened.

President Nayib Bukele called for an extraordinary session of the Legislative Assembly on Sunday, February 9, at 3:00 p.m. in order to get approval for a $109 million international loan he wanted for modernizing military and police forces. He insinuated on social media to his followers that if deputies did not show up, they would be violating constitutional order and that the people had the right of insurrection in this case, although the Legislative Assembly is an independent branch of government that is authorized to make decisions about its own affairs. Not wanting to be dictated to, deputies scheduled a regular session for Monday, February 10, to take up the matter.

The president then called for his supporters to gather at the Legislative Assembly and deployed military and police forces throughout the city. A small number of deputies showed up for the extraordinary session, and then the President brought armed soldiers into the legislative chamber to surround the room, railing against the deputies who had not shown up and against all of them for not yet passing his request to approve the loan. Finally, he prayed silently, left the chamber, and spoke to his followers outside that God had told him to be patient. In a real violation of Constitutional order, he commanded the deputies to pass his request within the week, or he would call out his supporters again, with the implied threat that they would remove the deputies from offfice by force.

The militarization of El Salvador’s political spaces had been, until now, a thing of the past, since before Peace Accords were signed in 1992 ending the civil war. Now, political leaders on the left and the right are concerned that President Bukele is about to perform a self-coup, using the armed forces and his supporters to take control of the Legislature. CRLN urges its members to read the joint statement, sent to us by U.S .- El Salvador Sister Cities, signed by some of El Salvador’s social movements and to learn more from the articles below. Then, please take action, following the Action Alert from our friends at CISPES (copied below the articles).

Joint statement by groups in Salvadoran popular movements: https://www.elsalvadorsolidarity.org/pronunciamiento-bukele-militars

Article in “El Salvador Perspectives”: www.elsalvadorperspectives.com/2020/02/bukele-sends-armed-troops-before-him.html?utm_source=MailChimp+Bulletin&utm_campaign=857ddc5cf9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_02_10_10_52&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d6d7f903dd-857ddc5cf9-420957

Press release by U.S. Solidarity groups: https://www.elsalvadorsolidarity.org/press-release-regarding-feb-2020/?utm_source=MailChimp+Bulletin&utm_campaign=857ddc5cf9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_02_10_10_52&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d6d7f903dd-857ddc5cf9-420957

TAKE ACTION!

Use this link to send an email to your Representative in Congress, asking them to speak out against Bukele’s power grab in El Salvador.
Call your Representative and/or Senator and ask them to speak out. Call the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected to their office. Ask to speak with the person in charge of foreign affairs.Sample script: My name is ______ and I am a resident of _________. I am calling because I am extremely concerned about threats to democracy in El Salvador. Have you been following the crisis there over the weekend? The president commanded the legislature to hold an extraordinary session in order to approve a loan he wanted for security funding, which he does not have the authority to do, in this case, and threatened consequences if they didn’t show up. Then he deployed the Armed Forces to occupy the legislature in a clear violation of the Peace Accords. It is urgent that Members of Congress speak out against this rollback of democracy in El Salvador. Will you make a statement calling on the President Bukele to respect the autonomy of the elected legislature? Will you call on the U.S. Embassy to do the same?

[They will probably want more details. If so, ask for their email address and offer to connect them with Alexis Stoumbelis, Executive Director of CISPES, who is coordinating the national effort and can provide additional information: alexis@cispes.org. Please let Sharon Hunter-Smith in the CRLN office know if you reach your Illinois Representative. She will work with you to get Illinois Representatives to speak out and will stay in contact with Alexis.]]

6

February

Human Rights Watch Reports on Deported Salvadorans

February 6, 2020 Claudia Lucero Central America

In “Deported to Danger: United States Deportation Policies Expose Salvadorans to Death and Abuse,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) shares the results of its investigation into what happens to Salvadorans seeking asylum who are nevertheless deported back to El Salvador. Here’s a quick summary of what they found:

Between 2014-2018, the U.S. recognized only 18.2% of Salvadorans as qualifying for asylum.
In the same period, the U.S. and Mexico deported 213,000 Salvadorans.
While no official tally exists, HRW was able to document 138 people who were killed after being deported, many for the same reasons they had fled from El Salvador in the first place. The number killed is likely higher, since not every death makes it into public records.
HRW was also able to identify over 70 people deported who were subjected to sexual violence, torture, other harm, or who went missing, also at the hands of the same people whose violence they had fled. The number is almost certainly higher, since these instances are almost never reported.

Here is the link to the full report: https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/02/05/deported-danger/united-states-deportation-policies-expose-salvadorans-death-and

The U.S. now has a cap on the number of refugees allowed into the country, and much lower percentages of them are actually receiving asylum in response to their petitions.

6

February

Your calls are working!

February 6, 2020 Claudia Lucero Action Alerts, Central America, Immigration

We had a very short timeframe–2 days–to get U.S. Representatives from Illinois to sign a letter asking the Department of Homeland Security to end the mis-named Migrant Protection Protocols, which forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexican border cities indefinitely until their court cases come up. Now the deadline to sign has been extended until tomorrow, February 7!

Thanks to your calls, 9 Representatives from Illinois have signed on so far: Rush, Kelly, Garcia, Quigley, Danny Davis, Krishnamoorthi, Schakowsky, Foster, and Bustos. Please call and thank them if they are your Representative. Rep. Schneider’s staffer has contacted CRLN to say that they will have an opportunity tonight to put the letter before him, and they expect he will sign. We will keep you posted on his action. If your Representatives are Lipinski, Casten, or Underwood, or any of the Republican Representatives, please call again and emphasize that it is horrific that our country is forcing people who fled danger once to wait in areas without sanitary facilities, access to food and water or proper shelter, and where they are subjected to violence, extortion and kidnapping by organized crime.

When CRLN made calls from our office, many Congressional staff people thanked us for flagging the letter in what was a very busy week full of other nationally televised events: the Iowa Caucuses, the State of the Union Address, and the final day of the Senate impeachment trial.

Now we need to make an effort to get these same Representatives and more to sign onto H.R. 2662, the Asylum Seeker Protection Act, which would defund this cruel “Remain in Mexico” policy. So far, only Garcia, Schakowsky and Schneider have signed. If you are represented by one of these 3, please call and thank them. If not, please call your member of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 2662.

5

February

Call your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 2662, the Asylum Seeker Protection Act!

February 5, 2020 Claudia Lucero Action Alerts, Central America

The so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) implemented by the Trump administration since January 29, 2019 have been in place for a year, and we have seen the disastrous results. We are alarmed that 60,000 people,having fled life-threatening situations in their home countries and having experienced trauma on their way north, have attempted to seek asylum in the U.S., only to be told that they must fend for themselves in Mexican border cities until their court case comes up, usually 6-8 months later. Organized crime, which has preyed upon migrants for years, poses a grave danger for these asylum seekers. In addition, they live in precarious conditions, with little access to food, water or shelter; no sanitation services; very few doctors available on site to provide medical care; and no access to U.S. lawyers who could represent them in their asylum cases.

A Congressional delegation went to the Texas-Mexican border to provide oversight of the MPP. Click here to read what they found.

We must act to end this inhumane and dangerous policy! Please call the U.S. House Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, ask to be connected to your Representative’s office (If you don’t know the name of your Representative, click here), and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 2662, the Asylum Seeker Protection Act, which would defund the MPP. Leave your phone number or email address and ask the office to let you know whether the Representative has signed or not. Let them know you are tired of hearing politicians portray all migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers as murderous criminals, and that you see them as community members, neighbors and friends.

If you receive a response from your Representative’s office, please call the CRLN office (773-293-2964) or email shunter-smith@crln.org to let us know. We will be following the progress of this House Resolution.

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