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Asylum-seekers have 30 days upon arrival in interviews. This has caused an increase in
Mexico to file their asylum application. After 30 applications in Chiapas at the southern border
days their application is blocked. Migrants are of Mexico. Most applications are in northern
deported without the opportunity to apply for and southern border states with high rates of
asylum because they are ineligible after being poverty and violence, so the restriction of free
in the Mexico more than 30 days. Mexican law movement poses a serious barrier to asylum-
requires asylum cases to be decided within seekers completing their applications. Mexico’s
45 working days or 90 days in exceptional Foreign Minister announced that Mexico
circumstances. 10s of thousands of asylum- would not accept non-Mexicans turned away
seekers are being forced to wait beyond or removed from the US. The US continues to
the legal limit. Due to lack of resources and pressure Mexico to ‘manage’ the border without
growing backlogs COMAR has suspended the any acknowledgement of international law and
processing time requirement. Decisions are treaty commitments that prohibit the return of
taking up to two years in some cases. 11% of refugees to persecution. US border agents have
the applications are withdrawn or abandoned. told migrants seeking protection that the US is
The are marked abandoned if asylum-seekers no longer accepting asylum-seekers, which is
miss their weekly check-in with COMAR. While in direct violation of US and international laws
waiting for their applications to be processed and treaties. In 2019 under pressure from the
asylum-seekers are forbidden from leaving the US, Mexico deployed 20,000 National Guard
state in which they applied. Due to US influence, Troops to northern and southern borders to
Mexico stopped issuing travel permits to block free movement of migrants and stop them
asylum-seekers while they are waiting for their from reaching the US border.
