Martin Miranda
Leitner Report
9/21/08
Leitner Intern 2008: Sin Fronteras (Mexico City)
I worked at Sin Fronteras (Without Borders), an NGO located in Mexico City devoted to securing basic human rights to refugees and immigrants, with the goal of helping them become self-sufficient and contribute to Mexican society. The organization was founded in 1995 on the principle that civil society must play a fundamental role to address the poor treatment of migrants by providing social services and programs designed to integrate them into society. Sin Fronteras was created by a group of academic and social activists who believe human migration is a longstanding complex phenomenon that must be regulated through multidisciplinary policies. They provide direct attention to vulnerable refugees and immigrants who lack food, lodging, medical attention, as well as coordinates a legal clinic to assist refugees and immigrants with: work authorization, naturalization, birth certificate registration, or other proceedings related to immigration status in Mexico.
By far the biggest highlight of my experience at Sin Fronteras was attending an international conference on the “Movement of people throughout the Americas.” Sin Fronteras was the chief sponsor for the program that attracted over 50 speakers from 30 countries to discuss modern challenges facing immigration/refugee human rights issues in the Western hemisphere. The conference lasted three days and was translated to accommodate English, Spanish and French speakers. This was an incredibly eye opening experience to see so many dedicated experts share their insight and provide macro/micro- analysis on highly complex immigration/refugee phenomena. With the support of the MacArthur Foundation, Sin Fronteras helped develop the Mexico-U.S. Advocates Network. Co-directed by the MacArthur organization and Heartland Alliance, this network promotes cooperation between immigration experts and the governments of both countries to assure proper treatment to immigrant’s human rights. Sin Fronteras has organized several bi-national meetings to exchange perspective for political reforms and determine what is required by each country to obtain these desired reforms.
The organization is composed of several divisions that provide refugees with a wide range of support. I worked within the legal defense division who represent refugees that were allegedly denied their legal right to due process in deportation proceedings. Our division is also responsible for monitoring human rights violations of extortion, physical abuse, situations of human trafficking, and advocate for greater migrant protection by Mexican Government.In Mexico, protection is granted by the United Nations Commission for Refugees which determine the status of refugees. The Mexican government does not grant any document signifying refugee status, but they respect the judgments granted by the U.N. Commission. The Attendance to Urban Refugees program is a central part of the organization’s activity. In cooperation with the Eastern Mexican Regional Office of the U.N. Commission, Sin Fronteras delivers aid to the refugees recognized under their mandate. Most of these refugees live in Mexico City. Of the approximately 3,300 recognized urban refugees, more than 1,000 refugees count on legal and social support from Sin Fronteras.
I spent my first two weeks conducing scholarly research into the history of migration waves into Mexico and the government’s response to the influx of foreigners into the country (both immigrants and refugees). Since the 1990’s deportation has become more pervasive in Mexico as larger numbers of refugees have been denied entry to the more traditional safe-havens inside more-developed countries. As a result, the refugee integration programs created in the 1980’s that brought international applaud have deteriorated, and the Mexican government is struggling to provide adequate infrastructure to support the influx of refugees to urban population centers. Rather than coordinate efforts to sustain the refugees in the country, the government has responded by streamlining the deportation procedures by framing the issue as a matter of national security to be undertaken by the executive branch. Currently this is the front-line issue in the fight to secure a more legally just deportation process. It is also becoming a much more dangerous tool for the executive authority in Mexico as the administration is simultaneously seeking to criminalize the “illegal” status of non-documented workers.
My subsequent tasks at the office were to conduct legal research into the source and development of this legal trend in order to develop successful strategies to combat the “legal” deportation proceedings carried out under the administrative authorities. Day to day work in the legal division consisted of handling individual cases of deported refugees, or clients under threat of deportation. Allegations of abuse (physical, and sexual) by Mexican authorities commonly accompanied the refugees’ deportation complaint. I managed the perpetually increasing caseload by grouping the cases into specific categories (e.g. Refugees already deported, facing deportation, abuse cases, etc.) as well as prioritizing them (clients facing deportation were always handled first).Other tasks included processing legal documents with the courts, United Nations regional office, and immigration bureau, as well as receiving notifications of updated immigration status and judgments to ongoing cases.
While I was only able to scratch the surface of the current obstacles the lawyers at Sin Fronteras are trying to overcome, I felt very fortunate that they treated me as their peer and were wiling to take time out of their busy schedules to teach me the intricacies of deportation proceedings. While the organization is very busy, they fostered a very cordial environment. I am very thankful for the mentors and friends I met during my brief time at Sin Fronteras.