As Biden Mulls ‘Lite’ Version of ‘Remain in Mexico,’ U.S.-Bound Migrants Targeted for Rape

As the Biden administration tries to toe the line on a federal court order to reinstate the Trump-era immigration policy, U.S. bound migrants face rape, child sex abuse, and theft.

Landwebs Landwebs
Sep 9, 2021 - 07:00
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The Joe Biden administration is debating restarting what it describes as a more humane version of the controversial Donald Trump-era ‘“Remain in Mexico’” program for asylum seekers, reports Politico. The new proposal, dubbed “Remain in Mexico lite,” would require a small number of asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their cases to be processed but give them better-living conditions and access to attorneys. The administration is starting talks with Mexico in a bid to strike a balance between abiding by a federal court order and making good on the president’s campaign promises.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that gangs of armed men are raping migrants headed north through Panama’s Darién Gap, a treacherous and jungle-thick part of the journey for many trying to make their way to the U.S. from South America. Doctors Without Borders, which provides medical care to migrants in the hamlet of Bajo Chiquito, on the northern edge of the Darién, says it has documented 180 cases of rape since starting operations in May 2021. Panamanian lawmakers who have received similar reports say they are alarmed by what appears to be a pattern of sexual violence against women who are en route to the border. Interviews with over two dozen migrants in three camps yielded reports of fellow migrants being raped, children being sexually abused when their parents weren’t able to pay extortion money to prevent the attacks, and thefts of their money, their documents and the little food they carried.

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