Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation
Remain in Mexico (2019): Asylum Seekers Forced to Wait in Dangerous Border Cities; Appeals Court Finds Programme Likely Unlawful
The first Trump administration made tens of thousands of asylum seekers wait in Mexican border cities, among the most violent in the region, for US hearings they mostly faced without lawyers. HRW documented kidnappings and assaults and found the programme violated non-refoulement; a federal appeals court found it likely unlawful, but the Supreme Court let it continue.