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PDF versionDeath by design: border crossers dying in greater numbers
by Demetria Martinez on Feb. 26, 2010
" 'Unknown gender' indicates that not enough of a body was recovered to determine gender, and without DNA, which is costly, it is impossible to know even this basic information about the individual, making identification and return to their families even more difficult. The dramatic increase in these unknown gender cases are a troubling indicator of what the future will look like as people are pushed into more and more isolated areas, making rescue and detection less likely and the likelihood of death more certain."
The Rev. John Fife, an immigrants' rights activist based in Tucson, Ariz., calls it "death by design." He's referring to the policy by immigration officials of sealing off traditional border crossing areas, leaving immigrants with no choice but to cross from Mexico into the United States in the most dangerous of areas. Fife's long-held observation has proven right once again. People forced to cross the border through mountains, canyons and other lethal areas are dying in ever greater numbers.
A new report from the Tucson-based Coalicion de Derechos Humanos indicates a dramatic increase in the number of human remains recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border. Between Oct. 1, 2009, and Jan. 31, 2010, the remains of 61 people have been recovered. This is a dramatic increase over the same period a year ago, when the total of recovered remains was 45. This year's count includes 40 males, four females and 17 individuals of unknown gender.
According to the Derechos Humanos press release:
"Men, women and children continue to perish on our border, communities cry out for justice, and yet nothing has been done to address the policies that have pushed migrants into the deadly Arizona terrain," according to Kat Rodriguez, coordinator of Derechos Humanos.
Learn more about the situation, go to the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos Web site, www.derechoshumanosaz.net, and join the chorus of people of faith who are crying out for humane policies and an end to "death by design."
Thank you very much for this
Thank you very much for this essential article, succinct, to the point, which should outrage each of us to action.
Reading the local Mexican paper at
http://www.diario.com.mx/
frequently features articles on this issue, which doubtless receives less media light upon this side.
" . . .17 individuals of unknown gender."
not even gender known . . .
Where do we come from?
Where are we now? Where are we going?
And I yet receive students in my classroom, US citizens, their parents deported from Phoenix and Tucson after years of living and working for little wages there.
No choice but to cross in
No choice but to cross in dangerous areas? How about the choice to stay home and apply through proper government channels instead of trying to "jump the line?" How about being fair to others and waiting for your turn? How about helping us make sure that the people coming in here have been checked out by authorities and are not drug dealers, white slavers, or gang members who might wreak harm on both of us? What about that justice?
Unfortunately, there are no
Unfortunately, there are no "lines" for most people to get into; when they exist, they are often extremely long. Most people in the world do not have college degrees. Current immigration law makes it impossible for people without college degrees to come into the US legally to work. In order to come in temporarily, one must be sponsored by an employer for a position that is going to exist less than 12 months.
To come permanently, those who come for jobs requiring fewer than 3 years of experience or education must wait almost 9 years from the time that their potential employers file the appropriate applications with the department of labor. Skilled workers and professionals without advanced degrees must wait 7 years. Those with There are few systems in place for most employers in the US who need unskilled foreign workers to gain access to those workers. A US citizen must wait 9 years for a married son or daughter to be allowed to enter. Lawful permanent residents must wait 8 years for spouses and minor children. Permanent residents from Mexico must wait 18 years for those relatives to come. For most countries, the wait for siblings of US citizens is currently 10 years; if the sibling of a US citizen is from the Phillipines, the wait is more than 22 years. If a US citizen petitions for parents, the parents come within a relatively short time, but no children -- not even minor children -- are allowed to come with the parents.
Applying for nonimmigrant visas is very difficult for most people. Unless they are wealthy, the US government generally does not believe that they will go back, so does not give them a visa.
The people who come through illegally, by and large, are coming here because they cannot suppport themselves and their families at home. They are not coming for fun; they are coming out of desperation. Many leave behind children, but come, hoping to work, to be able to send enough money home, so that the children can buy shoes to go to school. Many of them have tried to get visas, but were summarily turned away. Others did not try, because their friends and relatives had tried, and they know that they cannot get a visa.
People come here to support parents, to earn money so that brothers and sisters or children can buy shoes to go to school or so that a brother or sister can pay for necessary medical care. I have met countless people who entered without documents. I have yet to meet one who would not have done so legally, if that had been an option.
Brother Ed is brother to
Brother Ed is brother to whom?
Please try the Gospel, Ed.
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