A new government memo requiring migrants who apply for asylum at a port of entry to remain in Mexico while their cases are processed no longer includes language that says migrants would get a work permit from the Mexican government.
On Dec. 20, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced the U.S. would implement the migration protection protocols, which state those who wish to apply for asylum would have to remain in Mexico for months, even up to a year, while the case moved through the system.
“We have notified the Mexican government of our intended actions. In response, Mexico has made an independent determination that they will commit to implement essential measures on their side of the border. We expect affected migrants will receive humanitarian visas to stay on Mexican soil, the ability to apply for work, and other protections while they await a U.S. legal determination,” Nielsen said in the press release.
A three-page memo released by DHS Thursday night disclosing additional details of the protocols did not include language about work permits migrants forced to remain in Mexico would receive.
It states the Mexican government is willing to allow migrants from south of its borders to remain in the country, but does not mention if it will give the estimated 600 people in Tijuana the legal ability to work.
“While aliens await their hearings in Mexico, the Mexican government has made its own determination to provide such individuals the ability to stay in Mexico, under applicable protection based on the type of status given to them,” the memo states.
DHS and Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last fall, former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto offered migrants fleeing Northern Triangle countries the chance to live and work in Chiapas and Oaxaca. Both states border Guatemala.
The Mexican government issued a release Wednesday that said under the new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Central Americans and others fleeing their home countries may receive a visa and, with that, work documents, to remain in Mexico’s southern states.
“[A] total of 8,727 people have requested a Visitor Card for Humanitarian Reasons until today. January 23, of which 3 are from Angola, 2 from Brazil, 2 from Cuba, 1037 from El Salvador, 1,011 from Guatemala, 6 from Haiti, 6,483 from Honduras, 183 from Nicaragua; of which 2,024 are minors from 0 to 17 years old and 44 unaccompanied adolescents. It is estimated that 1,500 more people are waiting to apply for this card,” the ministry wrote.
