More than 5 thousand migrants have died or disappeared searching for the ‘American dream’

On February 2, the bodies of three people, presumed migrants, who died in their attempt to cross the Rio Grande into the United States, were recovered. This is how the victims of the so-called “American Dream” have accumulated.

The World Migration Report 2024 highlights that the corridor from Mexico to the United States is the largest in the world with almost 11 million people who were born in the first country and reside in the second.

An analysis of the causes of death of 9,343 migrants over 10 years on the American continent establishes that the majority have been due to drowning, followed by the category of “mixed or unknown”, then accidents in vehicles or linked to transportation ; environmental conditions such as extremes; then violence, illness and accidental death.

Other factors should be noted regarding the death and disappearance of these migrants on the way to their destination, including gender, where men have been the most prevalent, but since 2018 there has been an increase in the number of women who disappear or die in your route. 2022 being the most terrible year.

Minimal change between US presidents

Figures from the Missing Migrants Project of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicate that the border between Mexico and the United States is the most lethal, where the most deaths and disappearances have been recorded in the last 10 years. The most serious period was the year 2022, already with Democrat Joe Biden (2021-2025) as president, where 686 deaths and disappearances were recorded.

During the period of then-president Barack Obama (2009-2017), he also recorded a high number of deaths and disappearances, exceeding 500 in 2014 and having a reduction in his last three years.

With the Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021) and now Biden, the panorama of the crisis has become even more gloomy, considering that the figures have progressively escalated from 414 deaths and disappearances per year in 2017 to 636 in 2023, with 2021 being the worst year with 734.

The Mexico-United States border has left more than 5,301 deaths and disappearances in a decade, while the Darién border, a jungle crossing between South America and Central America, has claimed a fraction in the same period with an estimated 415 missing.

Deterrence, United States government policy

It was in July 1994 when the United States Border Patrol began to apply a “prevention through deterrence” strategy against migrants.

This policy outlined since that year included increasing the number of arrests “until reaching a point where many consider it futile to continue trying to cross illegally”; concentration of resources on the line; maximize the use of lighting, fencing and redirect agents to activities on the border.

Furthermore, by disrupting traditional entry or trafficking routes, migrants were expected to be forced to cross through more hostile terrain, “less adapted to crossing and more adapted to forcing them to obey the laws.”

The implementation of the Border Patrol’s strategic plan would be through multiple phases and over time, the document details.

Its results have been reflected in United Nations reports and the headline of a report by The New York Times published in August 2020: “How a United States policy turned the Sonoran Desert into a pantheon for migrants.”

In addition to the figures documented by the IOM, the Border Patrol estimated until 2022 that some 8,000 migrants have died on the southern border with Mexico since 1998. The authors of the NYT report point out “the real number is probably much higher, But even following Border Patrol estimates, it is a ratio of one migrant killed per day, every day for the last 22 years.”

Added to federal policy in recent years is that promoted by the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott (2015-present), under the title “Operation Lone Star”, which has increased the risk and security of migrants at the border. , according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

State agents have placed razor wire on the banks of the Rio Grande and push migrants back into the water, forcing them to try riskier parts.

In addition to this, a report published in July 2023 by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) declared that the state had spent two years and billions of dollars “with no indication that it has worked” its objective to stop immigration. On the other hand, inhumane treatment of migrants had been documented, such as denying them water, despite the high temperatures.

Human Rights Watch also noted that the program has led to injuries and deaths, “consistently violating the rights of migrants and American citizens,” and “the suppression of freedoms of association and expression of groups providing basic aid in Texas.”

As of November 2023, some 74 people have been killed and at least 189 injured in car crashes due to vehicle chases under Operation Lone Star.

Present

An analysis by the Washington Office on Latin American Affairs (WOLA) indicates that although the arrival of migrants at the border between Mexico and the United States has decreased in the first months of 2024, the trend is expected to be temporary. .

One of the most significant reasons has been the Mexican government’s effort to stop the movement of people in the country, which has increased reports of attacks on migrants, while groups of them accumulate in Mexico.

WOLA also dismisses Texas’ anti-immigrant policies as explaining the decline, saying “they do not offer a path forward.”

That is why it is estimated that in the medium term the levels of migration at the border will return to their high levels, which is why the United States government is urged to increase the budget for the asylum process and the management of cases awaiting trial.

“The situation at the border is not a crisis, it is an administrative problem,” he says.