2/9/20

By Tom Cartwright

Evening Contemplation. Double Jeopardy. The Rio Grande and the Sham Tent Courts.

I wonder if that's what this man I photographed tonight in the Matamoros, Mexico encampment is thinking about as he stares across the river to the sham courts.

Before MPP (Remain in Mexico) an asylum seeker, often a family, had to endure a difficult and dangerous journey to cross over the Rio Grande and the US border. But once here, if they could demonstrate a credible fear of persecution in their home country, they could begin their asylum court process in the safety of the US, and with the support of family or friends here.

With MPP (Remain in Mexico) and metering asylum seekers now must wait in the dangers of the cartel-controlled Mexico borderlands, with no shelter, food or medical services provided by either the US or Mexico.

After months of waiting in inhuman and dangerous conditions, they have to plead their asylum case in the tent courts you see in the photo beyond the Rio Grande, almost always without legal assistance of any kind. To be judged over a video TV in a sham of a proceeding that is devoid of due process.

Wasn't single jeopardy enough to endure to find a safe life for your family?

End MPP
#WitnessAtTheBorder #EndMPP