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Haitian migrants, part of a group of over 10,000 people staying in an encampment on the U.S. side of the border, cross the Rio Grande river to get food and water in Mexico, after another crossing point was closed near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas on September 19, 2021. (Photo: Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images)
Immigration Cruelty Goes Far Beyond the Border
Migrants are hit long before they migrate, before they reach the border, and often long after they cross it.
Oct 07, 2021
Images of Border Patrol officers on horseback whipping Black migrants shocked many Americans. President Biden called them "outrageous" and "wrong" and promised an investigation. Many members of Congress also spoke out.
Hatian migrants have been forced to move out of Haiti due to political, economic, and now climate destabilization--all worsened, to various degrees, by U.S. interventions and emissions.
Given this reaction, you could be forgiven for thinking that abuse like this isn't normal for Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But those of us who live in border states can tell you: It is.
The CBP agents who were chasing down Haitian migrants were "following routine protocol," explained the migrant rights group No More Deaths. "Border Patrol attacks migrants (on horseback and otherwise) every day in the remote desert, away from the cameras."
The dramatic images from Texas have opened up a national conversation about how our country treats migrants. But we need to expand that conversation beyond the border. In truth, migrants experience cruel U.S. policies long before they migrate, long before they reach the U.S.-Mexico border, and often long after they cross it.
For years now, Hatian migrants have been forced to move out of Haiti due to political, economic, and now climate destabilization--all worsened, to various degrees, by U.S. interventions and emissions. The same is true of countless Central American migrants who've been forced to leave countries grappling with poverty, political repression, droughts, and other disasters.
Those who take the risk of moving away from their home countries to find safety don't just endure the harsh journey itself. They also run headlong into an expanded border infrastructure stretching deep into Mexico and Central America, as the U.S. funds often abusive security services throughout the Americas to keep migrants from ever getting to the U.S.-Mexico border.
If they reach the border itself, they face abuse from ICE and CBP, or else years living in the shadows.
If they apply for asylum, they may be forced back to wait in dangerous conditions in Mexico, or else risk imprisonment in for-profit detention facilities in the United States. Or they may simply be turned back under Title 42, the Trump-era rule that shut down most migration under the guise of pandemic security. The Biden administration has continued that policy.
As the planet gets more unstable, Global North countries like the United States are deliberately barring the door to immigrants and refugees of color. There's a simple explanation for this: racism.
Even as Biden condemns the treatment of Haitians, his administration is still expelling them. In response, Biden's own envoy to Haiti resigned in protest. "I will not be associated with the United States' inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees" and migrants, wrote outgoing special envoy Daniel Foote.
As the planet gets more unstable, Global North countries like the United States are deliberately barring the door to immigrants and refugees of color. There's a simple explanation for this: racism. In the same week that Haitian migrants were violently turned away from the United States under pandemic rules, the White House lifted pandemic travel restrictions on visitors from Europe.
Patrick Gaspard, the Haitian American head of the Center for American Progress, recently returned from the border making four demands of the administration: to immediately halt deportations back to Haiti, ensure all people at the border are treated humanely, hold the Border Patrol accountable for abusive behavior, and commit to a firm timeline to end Title 42.
Those would be welcome steps. But as our planetary climate crisis worsens, we will need to rethink our approach to borders, and the agencies that enforce them, to ensure the freedom to move with dignity.
Whatever we do, we can no longer allow our taxpayer money to fund the abuse of people fleeing crises our own policies helped cause.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Josue De Luna Navarro
Josue De Luna Navarro is the New Mexico Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. Find him on Twitter at @Josue_DeLuna.
Images of Border Patrol officers on horseback whipping Black migrants shocked many Americans. President Biden called them "outrageous" and "wrong" and promised an investigation. Many members of Congress also spoke out.
Hatian migrants have been forced to move out of Haiti due to political, economic, and now climate destabilization--all worsened, to various degrees, by U.S. interventions and emissions.
Given this reaction, you could be forgiven for thinking that abuse like this isn't normal for Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But those of us who live in border states can tell you: It is.
The CBP agents who were chasing down Haitian migrants were "following routine protocol," explained the migrant rights group No More Deaths. "Border Patrol attacks migrants (on horseback and otherwise) every day in the remote desert, away from the cameras."
The dramatic images from Texas have opened up a national conversation about how our country treats migrants. But we need to expand that conversation beyond the border. In truth, migrants experience cruel U.S. policies long before they migrate, long before they reach the U.S.-Mexico border, and often long after they cross it.
For years now, Hatian migrants have been forced to move out of Haiti due to political, economic, and now climate destabilization--all worsened, to various degrees, by U.S. interventions and emissions. The same is true of countless Central American migrants who've been forced to leave countries grappling with poverty, political repression, droughts, and other disasters.
Those who take the risk of moving away from their home countries to find safety don't just endure the harsh journey itself. They also run headlong into an expanded border infrastructure stretching deep into Mexico and Central America, as the U.S. funds often abusive security services throughout the Americas to keep migrants from ever getting to the U.S.-Mexico border.
If they reach the border itself, they face abuse from ICE and CBP, or else years living in the shadows.
If they apply for asylum, they may be forced back to wait in dangerous conditions in Mexico, or else risk imprisonment in for-profit detention facilities in the United States. Or they may simply be turned back under Title 42, the Trump-era rule that shut down most migration under the guise of pandemic security. The Biden administration has continued that policy.
As the planet gets more unstable, Global North countries like the United States are deliberately barring the door to immigrants and refugees of color. There's a simple explanation for this: racism.
Even as Biden condemns the treatment of Haitians, his administration is still expelling them. In response, Biden's own envoy to Haiti resigned in protest. "I will not be associated with the United States' inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees" and migrants, wrote outgoing special envoy Daniel Foote.
As the planet gets more unstable, Global North countries like the United States are deliberately barring the door to immigrants and refugees of color. There's a simple explanation for this: racism. In the same week that Haitian migrants were violently turned away from the United States under pandemic rules, the White House lifted pandemic travel restrictions on visitors from Europe.
Patrick Gaspard, the Haitian American head of the Center for American Progress, recently returned from the border making four demands of the administration: to immediately halt deportations back to Haiti, ensure all people at the border are treated humanely, hold the Border Patrol accountable for abusive behavior, and commit to a firm timeline to end Title 42.
Those would be welcome steps. But as our planetary climate crisis worsens, we will need to rethink our approach to borders, and the agencies that enforce them, to ensure the freedom to move with dignity.
Whatever we do, we can no longer allow our taxpayer money to fund the abuse of people fleeing crises our own policies helped cause.
Josue De Luna Navarro
Josue De Luna Navarro is the New Mexico Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. Find him on Twitter at @Josue_DeLuna.
Images of Border Patrol officers on horseback whipping Black migrants shocked many Americans. President Biden called them "outrageous" and "wrong" and promised an investigation. Many members of Congress also spoke out.
Hatian migrants have been forced to move out of Haiti due to political, economic, and now climate destabilization--all worsened, to various degrees, by U.S. interventions and emissions.
Given this reaction, you could be forgiven for thinking that abuse like this isn't normal for Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But those of us who live in border states can tell you: It is.
The CBP agents who were chasing down Haitian migrants were "following routine protocol," explained the migrant rights group No More Deaths. "Border Patrol attacks migrants (on horseback and otherwise) every day in the remote desert, away from the cameras."
The dramatic images from Texas have opened up a national conversation about how our country treats migrants. But we need to expand that conversation beyond the border. In truth, migrants experience cruel U.S. policies long before they migrate, long before they reach the U.S.-Mexico border, and often long after they cross it.
For years now, Hatian migrants have been forced to move out of Haiti due to political, economic, and now climate destabilization--all worsened, to various degrees, by U.S. interventions and emissions. The same is true of countless Central American migrants who've been forced to leave countries grappling with poverty, political repression, droughts, and other disasters.
Those who take the risk of moving away from their home countries to find safety don't just endure the harsh journey itself. They also run headlong into an expanded border infrastructure stretching deep into Mexico and Central America, as the U.S. funds often abusive security services throughout the Americas to keep migrants from ever getting to the U.S.-Mexico border.
If they reach the border itself, they face abuse from ICE and CBP, or else years living in the shadows.
If they apply for asylum, they may be forced back to wait in dangerous conditions in Mexico, or else risk imprisonment in for-profit detention facilities in the United States. Or they may simply be turned back under Title 42, the Trump-era rule that shut down most migration under the guise of pandemic security. The Biden administration has continued that policy.
As the planet gets more unstable, Global North countries like the United States are deliberately barring the door to immigrants and refugees of color. There's a simple explanation for this: racism.
Even as Biden condemns the treatment of Haitians, his administration is still expelling them. In response, Biden's own envoy to Haiti resigned in protest. "I will not be associated with the United States' inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees" and migrants, wrote outgoing special envoy Daniel Foote.
As the planet gets more unstable, Global North countries like the United States are deliberately barring the door to immigrants and refugees of color. There's a simple explanation for this: racism. In the same week that Haitian migrants were violently turned away from the United States under pandemic rules, the White House lifted pandemic travel restrictions on visitors from Europe.
Patrick Gaspard, the Haitian American head of the Center for American Progress, recently returned from the border making four demands of the administration: to immediately halt deportations back to Haiti, ensure all people at the border are treated humanely, hold the Border Patrol accountable for abusive behavior, and commit to a firm timeline to end Title 42.
Those would be welcome steps. But as our planetary climate crisis worsens, we will need to rethink our approach to borders, and the agencies that enforce them, to ensure the freedom to move with dignity.
Whatever we do, we can no longer allow our taxpayer money to fund the abuse of people fleeing crises our own policies helped cause.
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