Migrants in Caravan Sue US Government Over Alleged Violation of Constitutional Rights

A dozen migrants that are part of the four migrant caravans now working their way toward the United States have filed a class-action lawsuit against President Donald Trump and others.

The migrants claim that the Trump administration has violated their due process, citing the Fifth Amendment.

The Fifth Amendment states that “no person… shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The lawsuit (pdf) states, “Trump’s professed and enacted policy towards thousands of caravanners seeking asylum in the United States is shockingly unconstitutional.”

The migrants are being represented by attorneys with McFadden and Shoreman of Washington, Williams Oinonen of Atlanta, and Nexus Derechos Humanos Attorneys of Atlanta.

Central American migrants walking to the United States start their day departing Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, Oct. 21, 2018. AP Photo/Moises Castillo

Tents and Asylum

Trump has announced plans this week to limit asylum and build more tent cities, along with sending up to 15,000 troops to the border.

On Nov. 1, he said that migrants who don’t present themselves at legal ports of entry won’t be released under the “catch-and-release” policy.

“Those who choose to break our laws and enter illegally will no longer be able to use meritless claims to gain automatic admission into our country,” he said, indicating he'd sign an executive order to change the policy.

On Oct. 30, Trump said he will have more tent cities built at the southern border to hold migrants who cross into America, which would help solve space problems federal authorities have had due to the number of migrants.

The lawsuit alleges that the United States cannot send troops into Mexico to cut off the caravan, and when informed by migrants who want to apply for asylum, they must be allowed into America and granted a so-called “credible fear” hearing.

The lawsuit comes after the migrants rejected an asylum offer from Mexico, though organizers haven’t made the reasons for the rejections clear.

Children and workers on June 19, 2018, at a tent encampment recently built near the Tornillo Port of Entry in Texas. The Trump administration is using the Tornillo tent facility to house immigrant children separated from their parents after they were caught entering illegally. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Catch-and-Release

Migrants attempting to enter the United States have been taking advantage of a lenient system to claim asylum then vanish after being processed, failing to show up to court for their hearings. The system is known as catch-and-release.

Up to 90 percent of those at the border who claim fear of returning to their home country pass the initial “credible fear” screening. Of those who show up at court, about 13 percent are granted asylum, according to fiscal year 2016 numbers, when more than 65,000 asylum applications were received. The courts are bogged down, with around 700,000 active cases.

Most of the migrants in the caravans are from Honduras. The number of asylum claims from Honduran nationals has skyrocketed over the last several years. However, the number granted asylum has hovered around 5 percent.

In fiscal year 2012, about 1,550 Hondurans applied for asylum and 73 were accepted—a 4.7 percent rate. Another 197 were classified as “other.” In fiscal year 2016, almost 11,000 Hondurans applied and 620 were accepted—a 5.7 rate—while another 2,247 were classified as “other.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in July that the criteria for asylum does not include people running from domestic abuse or local criminal activity.

From NTD.tv