I get these calls every week. A family member of an alien or the alien himself or herself calls and tells me that the alien is in Mexico. He or she was encountered by ICE or CBPand signed papers to allow his or her return to Mexico without seeing an immigration judge. I ask, “Why did he sign?” The answer is invariably that the officers explained that if the alien did not sign and go back to Mexico he or she would be detained for many months, would not be able to legalize his status in the United States anyway, and that he or she would have an easy time just coming back through the issuance of a visa from a U.S. Consulate in Mexico. That would be a lot cheaper and easier than sitting in detention. Sometimes the answer is that the alien was berated and threatened until he or she just signed to get out of a threatening and oppressive environment. Sometimes the calls come from people I had spoken to before they were even detained. I discussed with these aliens their rights and relief available to them. Yet they still signed and agreed to a return to Mexico because of coercion and fear. These people do not have removal orders, but the collateral consequences of “signing and going” are often as bad as having an actual removal order. (more…)