Border Patrol in Mexico and Central America

Border Patrol found a 23 month old arm wrapped around her dad's neck, both face down, dead - cause of death: drowning. They were from El Salvador and crossing the border between Mexico and the US at the Rio Grande. The family of 3 were attempting to cross the border from Mexico. The father took the mother over to the other side and left his 23 month old baby on the other side with the plan to return to grab her and also bring her to the other side. When the father stepped into the river, the baby followed, as a natural instinct of following your parents. She jumped in the river abruptly, following her dad of which the rough current of the river swept them both away, eventually sweeping their life away also. 

Grocery store workers, farmers, electricians, mechanics from Mexico and Central America cross the border everyday in search for a better life - a life without corruption, drugs, gangs, and poverty. In the US, there is a constant debate of whether or not immigrants should be granted access into the US. With this comes misconceptions about how these individuals come over here or why they even do. What this side fails to realize is that the conditions in the home country are so bad, that immigrants are very aware of the dangers of crossing the borders, including death. The decision of coming to the US is not an easy one for these individuals, but if it means getting out of life in which they are living in now to come to a better one, then so be it. Look at it this way: you’re watching a movie in which you end up rooting for the individual that is facing hardship to ultimately come out victorious at the end. The exact same thing is happening here. People should not have to risk death for a better life because this in itself creates a public health issue of which creates larger issues down the road.

Think about a time you went hiking, and if you’ve never hiked, think about a time you went for a walk on the hottest day of the summer. You were hot, sweaty, ready for it to be over, and you knew that it would be over… maybe in a couple of minutes or at max 3 hours. Now think about walking through a desert, on days end, with one jug of water to sustain yourself. To relate this to my hiking example, one usually only takes a water bottle and a backpack that may contain an extra change of clothes, keys, and some snacks. Same thing applies here but instead of snacks, it's documentation of who they are, instead of an extra change of clothes, it's money that is supposed to sustain them throughout their travels, and instead of keys, it's a bible. This walk through the desert doesn't end in minutes nor 3 hours, it lasts for days. This is one of the examples of deadly risks immigrants face. This desert is also a place where many immigrants lose their lives because of dehydration or heat stroke. Immigrants are aware of these risks, but that's okay! Because the light at the end of the tunnel shines brighter than the sun in the desert.

I interviewed a medical interpreter who serves in the Roanoke Valley in Virginia, my hometown. For confidentiality purposes, we will call her Mary. Mary works with people from all backgrounds, including undocumented immigrants. Because of this, I knew she had come across stories of these individuals. This is what she had to share about 2 women crossing the border from Central America, one with a child and the other alone.

Interview 1:45 

“This is a single parent that she traveled from, ya know, Central America, and her message of traveling she explained to me was like in a semi truck? And they [the people] were like laid out like in pallets but they were like in rows of 4 and they traveled in this particular truck for about 15-20 hours before they were, ya know, arriving at the destination that they were to arrive.”

Mary then goes into the gruesome reality of traveling in this semi:

Interview:

“It was the summer, so it was hot and humid. They did have air coming through just the air that was coming through the truck. They were given a small bottle of water and were given instructions simply just to sip on it if they absolutely had to. But ya know, being the way that they were laid out in the rows, she told me that the worst thing was the stench, the body odors, the sweat, and also the urine because you have people stacked one above the other in these palettes, and ya know, those above, ya know, wet themselves and urine was coming to those that were below. And she said that it was just horrendous.”

She then follows with a second story of a woman found in Texas:

Interview 3:25

“I really don't want to go into much detail because it's just crushing. A woman was raped and left there to die. Obviously she was able to relate the story later on, and that's because help did come. And those two stories have always stayed with me. It was very impacting in my personal life.” 

Mary exposes the harsh realities of coming to the United States as an undocumneted immigrant. The drowning, the tractor trailer, and the rape are only 3 examples of the endless risk factors of this journey.

My family is from Honduras and most of my siblings have crossed the border undocumented. My sisters came together but my brothers on the other hand, came alone. One of whom not only walked the desert, but also traveled by train. This isn’t your typical train ride though; my brother not only had to jump on a moving train at the right time, but also tied himself to the rails on top of the train so he wouldn’t fall off if he were to sleep. It is important to note here too that when I say traveling together or traveling alone I mean traveling with someone you know versus not. Immigrants travel to the border in groups, with a coyote, or human smuggler, as the head guy in charge, directing the way. 

Misconceptions about these families are rabid, misinformation is constantly being spread about their stories or even about them as a general group. These misconceptions add fuel to the fire about the debate of immigration into the United States. Almost every single one of these immigrants come to the US with one goal: to make money in a safe and sustainable way in order to live a better life. A lot of our produce has been picked by these individuals, our grass is usually cut by these individuals, and a most notoriously, a lot of the hard, grimy labor that no one else wants to do, is done by them. 

In our interview, Mary talks about the misconceptions she believes are attached to these individuals. She discusses how these individuals are believed to be uneducated, or unworthy, simply because of the language barrier between Spanish and English:

Interview 3:56 or 4:40

“I would say one of the greatest misconceptions is that many of these people are uneducated and some may be. I may venture to say that there is a small majority that are uneducated, but I've come across those that have left medical school for one reason or another. I’ve come across several that were instructors of higher education not just in primary schools. I have come across nurses, business owners, and many of them have professional trades such as plumbing, mechanics, electricians, so I would say one of the greatest misconceptions most of these undocumented individuals are eneducated simply because there is a language barrier and they may not speak our language [English].”

Alongside this misconception, there is also the misconception that these individuals live off of the American economy, that they live off of welfare, like food stamps, which is simply not the case. While the children of these individuals may qualify for benefits like this, they only qualify if the children have been born in the US but no benefits go directly to anyone who wasn’t born in the US. There is also a misconception that these individuals don’t pay taxes, which in turn creates a stigma around these individuals that they are living off of the government. In reality though, the IRS reported that 50-75% of undocumented immigrants file taxes each year, paying federal, state, and local taxes. The grey area here though is that undocumented immigrants may work under the table due to that being their only option in recieving any type of income, in which course, they wouldn’t be paying taxes.

Immigrants do not simply wake up and decide one day that they are going to come to the US. It takes multiple encounters with hardships in their home country to finally bring them to this decision making. The journey here is hard, and they are constantly looking death right in the face. The simple fact that they acknowledge and take these risks, speaks volumes about the circumstances present in their home country. It is not a simple one, and empathy should be present when attacking the issue of immigration in the US and resolving the public health issue that is at stake here with people crossing the border in the most inhumane and dangerous ways. As a receiving country, we should attempt to make the journey to the US a safe and reliable one, as every human has the right to live a safe and happy life.