As Guatemala once again ponders over its craven acceptance of deportation flights, which inevitably spread Coronavirus to their already ravaged country, and Honduras and Salvador take their human cargo, mindless of the contagion, we watch, I from an apartment in New York City, others from Texas and Ohio, eyes glued to flight manifests every early morning.

I am perched on the eighth floor of a building in Brooklyn in an apartment with Melissa. We have not left for several days. We have a terrace, so we can go out and feel the sun and wind, and watch the reduced traffic, automobile and pedestrian, below. When watching together, we sigh and scold to each other about those that do not observe social distancing. That’s not six feet, one of us remarks to the other. We stand together, touching.

Artist Iviva Olenick is working on a series called "States of Emergenc(y)e," a "textile arts and performance series advocating for opening borders and extending compassion and care to immigrants and refugees."

#WitnessDeportation

DEPORTATION FLIGHT ALERT
Friday, March 27, 2020

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We have gotten the reports of children testing COVID positive, in custody. They need to LET THEM OUT, send them to their sponsors now.

Photos from Matamoros. Buses to the south.

From WAPO. In other words, MPP is back in place for Northern Triangle, but perhaps without any of the legal window dressing.

But, Mexico insists, US has to keep the unaccompanied kids, and anyone who is sick.

It is almost impossible to get a clear idea of what the announced changes to immigration policy will be. Listening to the president and his chorus of evil, at the Coronavirus press conference, they seemed to say or imply the following:

1. Apprehended migrants will not be held. They will be transferred to airports and flown to their own countries.
2. Mexico will not accept anyone from any third countries.
3. There will be no judicial review of this procedure.
4. No asylum seekers will be allowed to cross.

JUST🚫ICE

Big News. Guatemala prohibited inbound flights. Initially except for deportation flights. One boarded this morning in Brownsville for Guatemala but everyone was then taken off and the full busses left as did the ICE workers.

Travel restriction. Meaningless for deportation flights so far. No one cares about these people. Observed three busses of human beings boarded in shackles to a plane headed for Guatemala, a country that said they would restrict all incoming flights from other countries...but not deportation flights.

Suspended: Witness at the Border

These are hard times, and the specter of the Coronavirus hangs over the vulnerable in a way that we can barely allow ourselves to pronounce, much less write it down and make it even more real. Imagine the scenarios, the way this plays out for those trapped at the border, and in prisons that have walls, as well, and I will imagine still another that is haunting me as I write.

Aboard the plane home I wear a mask. I am told it will not protect me, but it might protect other people in case I carry a virus, which I don't think I do. We don't shake hands anymore. We don't hug. We try to avoid crowds. We are tying to protect one another. We do what we can.

Predictable but still horribly disappointing:

Supreme Court says Trump administration may continue ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy for asylum seekers (Washington Post)

As several were Witnessing, Rodney came with his attorney, Jodi Goodwin. They were just before the Immigration Court. After an 8 month trial, he has been granted full asylum. He is from Venezuela and, yes, said it was very difficult in his country.

Day 58 - Witness at the Border

Sergio Cordova and Marc Mines

The grocery clerk asked about the “Free Them” button I was wearing. I explained that it referred to people who are trying to claim asylum but are being denied entry to our country. He told me lovingly about his father, who years ago swam across a river to get here from Mexico. But the clerk was not sympathetic to people who are trying to get into our country today.

Thank goodness so far we have seen no evidence here of the announced increased militarization of the border. But we will witness changes. And actions. Uncertainty remains until possibly the 11th or 12th to see if SCOTUS reviews the current status of MPP - in place in the 5th District (TX and NM) and no MPP as of the 12th in the 9th (AZ and CA).

The asylum seekers who are stuck just outside Brownsville and at other border towns in Mexico may now have a compelling reason to risk a long journey full of danger. The 9th Circuit just ruled that as of March 12 they will have a new chance of getting into the U.S. On that day, the Trump administration's Remain in Mexico policy will no longer be in effect, because the temporary stay that the court had ordered dissolves and the injunction against the policy goes into effect.