Border Militarization and Health: Violence, Death and Security in Mexico and the United States
bepress.com
ABSTRACT:
Key Words: Violence, Trauma, Border Security, Migration
Despite proposed increases in spending on personnel and equipment for border enforcement tied to the amended version of the U.S. Senate’s current immigration reform bill, the public health impacts of border militarization are relatively under-examined. We begin to explore these health impacts by drawing on the Migrant Border Crossing Study (MBCS) a new data source based on 1,110 surveys of a random sample of deportees we carried out with a bi-national team in five Mexican border cities and in Mexico City. The violence generated by current border and immigration enforcement practices has led to a humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. We specifically examine the risks and dangers associated with contemporary border crossing experiences, migrant deaths in the desert, abuses committed by U.S. authorities involved in immigration enforcement, and migrants’ conditions while in U.S. custody, including access to medical attention. The paper also draws from research with families of migrants in Puebla to expand our understandings of the health impacts of migration that extend beyond people impacted directly by U.S. policies to include their families and return migrants’ experiences. We end this paper with suggestions about how to address negative health impacts through policy changes.
Introduction
In 2013 the United States Congress has been locked in a contentious battle over immigration, border security, and the need for a military surge to close off the border. While we are writing this paper, the Senate has passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill (CIR) that includes about $30 billion in additional spending on border security and calls for an additional 20,000 – 30,000 new Border Patrol agents. This proposed expansion comes on the heels of an already unprecedented buildup along the border that tripled the size of the Border Patrol between 2004 and 2012. During this same period the Mexican side of the border has undergone intense conflict and violence, and the number of people dying in the desert has escalated, although apprehensions have decreased from peak highs in the mid-2000s.1 Our goal for this paper is to develop a new perspective on border militarization, one that interrogates the public health impacts of a highly militarized and violent border. We ask: what negative impacts on public health have been caused by border militarization? What could be done to better mitigate these problems, not only for the migrants themselves, but for everyone affected? It is important to address these questions, as improvement in the health and well-being of disadvantaged groups has a positive impact on society as a whole.
The proposed increase in border security will not create a linear increase in the health impacts we attribute to border militarization in this article. There could be positive, negative, or even new health problems depending on the approach taken by authorities. For example, while the previous waves of border militarization have been associated with an increase in migrant deaths,2-4 the next wave may increase deaths, and it may not. Much of this is contingent upon numerous push/pull factors contributing to migration flows. However, if the past is any indication of the future, increased border militarization is likely to lead to an increase in migrant deaths. Immigration enforcement is a large, complicated and amorphous set of practices and procedures, some more harmful than others. We propose that law-makers examine which aspects of enforcement actually fulfill the tasks at hand, rather than simply creating new and more complicated social problems.
We will begin this paper with a discussion of important definitions and aggregate figures by scholars examining border militarization and clandestine migration from Mexico before proceeding to our theoretical orientation on violence and health. After briefly discussing our methodology we will proceed to our findings, which draw on descriptive statistics from new and unique data sources on unauthorized migration to better understand the violence of the crossing experience, as well as the practices and procedures of U.S. authorities regarding the health and well-being of alleged immigration offenders post-apprehension. READ ARTICLE/PAPER
Titulo Breve:
Border Militarization and Health
Jeremy Slack (Candidato de Doctorado, University of Arizona)
jeremys@u.arizona.edu
Daniel E. Martínez, PhD (George Washington University)
danielmartinez@gwu.edu
Alison Elizabeth Lee, PhD (Universidad de las Américas)
alison.lee@udlap.mx
Scott Whiteford, PhD (University of Arizona)
eljefe@u.arizona.edu
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defensa.gob.ec reported…Through Executive decrees: 301, 302 and 303, 7 April 2014, the President of the Republic, Rafael Correa, appointed new military command made up of: -Major-General, Luis Aníbal Garzón Narváez, is the new head of the armed forces joint command, who served as Chief of the State greater operational of the joint command of armed […]
Amazonwatch.org press release…Just five days after turning in more than enough signatures to qualify for a national referendum to stop oil drilling plans in a critical part of Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park, Yasunidos, the civil society collective spearheading the grassroots effort is denouncing what appear to be egregious irregularities by the National Election Commission (CNE). […]
bbc.com reportd that Brazil has sent thousands of federal troops to maintain order in the north-eastern state of Bahia after police there went on strike over pay. Shops and supermarkets in the state capital, Salvador, have been looted and public transport was severely reduced following attacks on some buses. The Brazilian city is due to […]
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bbc.com reported that twenty-four people suspected of links to Peruvian militant group Shining Path have been arrested, the president says. President Ollanta Humala said they included the leaders of the organisation’s political arm, Movadef. Two of them are lawyers for the group’s founder Abimael Guzman, who was jailed in 1992. The Maoist group was effectively […]
ccffaa.mil.ec reported that the armed forces, through the operational command no. 2 “MARITIMO” in coordination with the National Directorate of water spaces, in an operation executed by the command of Coast Guard and intelligence military joint command, this Wednesday, April 02, approximately at 11 h 30, was captured a semi-submersible of approximately 15 metres in […]
ansa.it reported that authorities seized 215 kilos of “extremely” pure cocaine at the port of Gioia Tauro, Italy. The cocaine was located in hidden bags that were hidden in a banana shipment aboard a container ship from Ecuador. estimated street value of the booty is 43 million euros. The find was a result of cross-checking […]
theguardian.com reported the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, has added three generals to the growing list of people and entities he accuses of plotting against him. Maduro announced on Tuesday that his socialist administration had brought three air force generals before a military tribunal on charges of plotting a coup as anti-government protests continue across the […]
Washingtonpost.com/AP reported that the Mexican government has chosen the man who runs its national security council to be the new chief of federal police two days after the previous official resigned. Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said Tuesday that Monte Alejandro Rubido is replacing Manuel Mondragon as the head of the National Security Commission. […]
elcomercio.com reported that since 20 January last until yesterday, the police National Directorate for offences against life, disappearance, extortion and abduction of persons (Dinased) met 105 violent deaths. These cases correspond to crimes reported between 2011 and 2014. Thus concerns it a report that uniformed dependency that agreed this diary. As part of the investigations, […]
ON March 14, 2014, while asleep in bed, an expat was awaken at 4:45 AM after her dog alerted her to activity outside the home and flashlights were seen through the bedroom window. The expat and companion began yelling which scared off the intruders. A friend who spoke Spanish called the police who said they […]
newindianexpress.com reported that the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on Monday refused to comment on the Dhruv crash that killed three people in southern Ecuador on February 21. “We are aware of the incident. Since the matter is being probed, we cannot make any comment now,” HAL chairman R K Tyagi told Express over phone from […]
bostonherald.com reported that the humiliating takedown of fugitive Mexican drug cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman — busted shirtless in a seaside hotel room and marched before the media as he was whisked away to jail after more than a decade on the run — is a major moral victory but will do little to […]
Globalpost.com reported that the Venezuelan government ordered paratroopers Thursday to a border city where growing student protests began over two weeks ago, with President Nicolas Maduro angrily rejecting US calls for dialogue. The nationwide demonstrations, led by students and the opposition, have left at least four people dead and dozens hurt in the biggest challenge […]