Were migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard given ‘fake addresses’ by DHS? Agency responds
A day after Gov. Ron DeSantis took credit for sending a group of almost 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, immigration attorneys in the Boston area jumped into action to help them deal with their immigration cases.
Among their initial findings, attorneys said from St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Edgartown, was that some of the migrants flown from San Antonio had falsified addresses in their paperwork, some of which linked back to homeless shelters all across the country. She said that had set migrants up to be in default with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Before they boarded the planes, the migrants were processed by agents of the Department of Homeland Security who listed falsified addresses on the migrants’ paperwork,” said Rachel Self, one of the immigration attorneys who spoke to reporters in Edgartown. “According to the paperwork provided to them, the migrants are required to check in with [the] ICE office nearest to the fake address chosen for them by DHS or be permanently removed from the United States, with some required to check in as early as this coming Monday.”
While they did not directly respond to the claims, officials with DHS now say the allegation is not only unrelated to what they called DeSantis’ “stunt” of sending planes to sanctuary jurisdictions, but also appears to be a misunderstanding of how they process migrants at the border.
When migrants cross the border and enter a processing center — such as those who crossed at Eagle Pass before making their way to San Antonio — they fill out a digital “notice to appear” form with the assistance of an agent, and print it out with their approval of the address. Migrants are asked if they have somewhere specific to go, and if they do not, are assigned a random location for their court appearance, DHS officials explained.
They leave with a packet detailing how they can change their address. But the packet of instructions is in English, and the entire process often overwhelms migrants already exhausted from the journey and eager to move out of U.S. custody, officials said.
DHS officials did not directly address specific cases.
After publication, Self told Herald/McClatchyDC in an interview that she believed the problem with bad addresses is not unique to her current clients’ situation. “This address issue has been a problem for a very long time,” Self said. “It’s just unclear why this continues to happen.”
Other migrants at Eagle Pass who were not taken to Martha’s Vineyard confirmed to the Miami Herald that they, too, were given addresses that did not match what they stated to be their desired destination.
Such is the case of Cuban migrant Reynier Figueroa, who traveled to the United States by way of Uruguay, making the 68-day journey to the border with his 17-year-old son Marcos Reinier Figueroa. The two had lived and worked in South America for several years but decided to leave for the United States, where they have many family members living in Miami.
By the time they reached the border, Figueroa had lost his phone, and did not have contact information for his family members in South Florida. So, he said, immigration officials in Eagle Pass assigned him an address and court date in New York.
Self said that she verified with her clients who had wrong addresses and they all said they told agents they had no address in the U.S.
“When you look at them, there is no way that any of these people would get the addresses they did,” said Self, who again said migrants had addresses in places like Seattle, Utah or Tacoma, Washington. “The addresses that were provided were for refugee office buildings ... they weren’t intake centers.”
“Whether it’s nefarious, inept, lazy or just, I don’t know. But when you’re dealing with people I think it’s important to cross your T’s and dot your I’s,” she added.
The claim from attorneys that DHS had been giving false addresses drew attention from some Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who tweeted on Saturday that he would be requesting answers from DHS. In a statement to the Herald/McClatchy DC, Rubio said he had not yet received any response.
“DHS refuses to answer simple questions about what happened and why. President Biden’s policies created this crisis, and his administration needs to be held accountable for every part of the response,” Rubio said.
One official told Herald/McClatchy DC that migrants who are provisionally released awaiting court proceedings “have strict immigration reporting requirements,” including checking in with ICE for further processing, and “are provided forms to update their addresses as needed.”
“Any address is based on information that migrants provide,” the DHS official said.
Self told CBS News over the weekend that attorneys have since reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on behalf of all 48 migrants and “there is no concern anymore about those check-ins as far as needing to” show up in person this week.
“Because the onus is on the immigrant under the law to provide their correct address, and if you do not provide your correct address and you miss a hearing you are ordered removed in absentia,” Self told the news outlet.
A DHS spokesperson told Herald/McClatchy DC that the department had no knowledge of the governor’s operation beforehand, in part because migrants have freedom of movement between their release from a processing center and their scheduled court appearance.
“As we have said, coordination with any receiving city is imperative for the safety of migrants and the communities receiving them,” a DHS spokesperson said. “DHS, including ICE and CBP, has not been involved with these recent actions. Unlike these governors, we are not in the business of using vulnerable men, women, and children as props for a political stunt.”
Miami Herald staff writer Sarah Blaskey contributed reporting from Eagle Pass.
This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 2:44 PM.
