KPBS Midday Edition

Union-Tribune: CBP Agents Altering Asylum Seekers' Court Documents

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, John Carroll / General Assignment Reporter & Anchor

Published November 8, 2019 at 11:15 AM PST

This story was published more than 4 years ago.

In this Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, photo, Lizbeth poses for a portrait in a relative's home in Tijuana, Mexico. Lizbeth, a Salvadoran woman seeking asylum in the United States, never thought she would be returned to Mexico to wait for the outcome of her case, after suffering multiple assaults and being kidnapped into prostitution on her journey through Mexico.

Asylum seekers who have concluded their court cases are being returned to Mexico with fake future court dates, keeping some migrants in Mexico indefinitely.

Court records obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune, show that in at least 14 cases, Customs and Border Protection agents wrote fraudulent court dates on asylum seekers' court documents.

Under the Migrant Protection Protocols policy, also known as the remain in Mexico program, asylum seekers must wait in Mexico while their cases are in progress.

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Normally, when migrants conclude their immigration court cases, they are either paroled into the United States or kept in federal custody, depending on the outcome of the case.

RELATED: ACLU Files Suit Over Access To Lawyers For Asylum-Seekers Being Sent Back To Mexico

CBP has not responded to KPBS' request for comment.

Gustavo Solis, a reporter with the Union-Tribune, joined Midday Edition to talk about the impact this is having on migrants being sent back to Mexico.

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Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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John Carroll

John Carroll is a general assignment reporter and anchor at KPBS. He loves coming up with story ideas that are not being covered elsewhere, but he’s also ready to cover the breaking news of the day.

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