Welcoming Immigrants & Asylum-Seekers With Dignity Can Help Avoid Future Migrant Tragedies
By: Sophia Genovese / Detention & Asylum Senior Attorney
The horrific tragedy discovered in San Antonio, Texas, on the evening of June 27th that left 51 migrants dead is a direct result of egregious and unlawful deterrence policies that have effectively closed the border to Black, Indigenous, and Brown asylum seekers. We must welcome migrants and asylum seekers with dignity – not only because it is our obligation under international law, but because it is a moral imperative that saves lives.
In a time when conservative politicians across the country are proclaiming and celebrating the ‘sanctity of life,’ they continue to enact xenophobic policies which are directly responsible for the deaths and harm of thousands of asylum seekers. Conservative states such as Texas and Louisiana have successfully challenged the Biden administration’s attempts to lift Title 42 expulsions, continue to litigate and appeal decisions to end the unlawful Migration Protection Protocols program, among other state and local policies aimed at terrorizing and discriminating against migrants and asylum seekers.
These xenophobic policies have created numerous barriers for mostly Black, Indigenous, and Brown migrants fleeing from danger from excercising their fundamental human right of seeking asylum in the Unites States. In turn, they are left to take desperate measures to protect themselves and their families, pushing them to seek dangerous alternatives to enter into U.S. territory. The semi truck tragedy that was discovered in San Antonio this past week is a prime example.
Unfortunately, the tragedy in Texas is only one in a long history of preventable tragedies caused by deterring asylum policies. This past May, 11 Hatian asylum seekers lost their lives when their ship capsized while seeking safety on U.S. shores. Just in San Antonio alone, there have been several similar tragedies in recent years like in July of 2017 where 8 migrants were found dead in a trailer parked in a Walmart parking lot with two more migrants dying later in hospitals. Almost a year later in June of 2018, 54 migrants were found in a similar sized trailer, thankfully with no casualties but deeply traumatized.
These tragedies are preventable.
We must call on the Biden Administration to take immediate action to restore our country’s asylum system and implement a process that welcomes migrants and asylum seekers with dignity and safety. We must also call out the racist and xenophobic policies that are directly responsible for this tragedy. We demand immediate action in the form of meaningful accountability, as well as support and reparations for the families of the victims of this accident.
It was not the heat, lack of ventilation, or lack of water that killed 51 migrants and asylum seekers this week – US immigration law and unlawful deterrence policies killed 51 migrants and asylum seekers, amongst the thousands of others who have perished or been harmed over the past several years due to these policies.
Sophia Genovese is a Senior Attorney at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center.
Edited & Posted June 29, 2022 by Flaviano Graciano, Communications Manager