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Introducing: Border Angels
Feb. 1st, 2019 11:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fthmodsSince the start of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, there has been a steady increase in the militarisation of the US-Mexico border, primarily due to the implementation of Operation Gatekeeper. Years of devastating economic and immigration policies have created a situation where thousands of people from Mexico and Latin America risk their lives each year attempting to cross into United States the US in the hope of finding a better life.(1) In the first 15 years since the inception of Operation Gatekeeper in 1994, an estimated 5,000 people lost their lives during the journey across the US-Mexico border,(1) and as of this year, Border Angels estimates that 10,000 people have died due to extreme weather, lack of food and water, and the overall perilous nature of the trip. (2) The US Border Patrol reported 294 migrant deaths in the southwest border sectors during the 2017 fiscal year, a drop from the 329 deaths listed in 2016.(3) However, the rate of migrant fatalities rose as a percentage of total people apprehended while trying to cross into the US.(4)
Trump has been targeting undocumented immigrants, and immigration from Mexico specifically, with the repeal of DACA and his promise to build a wall on the US-Mexico border which he claimed would be paid for by Mexico (he later tweeted that the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement would pay for it instead, and the ongoing US government shutdown is a result of Trump refusing to sign a Senate-approved stopgap spending bill on 20 December 2018 because it didn’t include money for additions to the aforementioned wall).(5) His derogatory and discriminatory rhetoric towards immigrants and policy moves can be read about in more depth in our previous non-profit introduction for RAICES.
Border Angels (BA) was founded in 1986 by Enrique Morones, who was inspired after taking a trip with members of his church to canyons in San Diego County where migrant families were living. BA is an all volunteer, non profit organisation that advocates for human rights, humane immigration reform, and social justice with a focus on issues related to the US-Mexican border. BA has a 3-pronged approach in its mission to reduce the number of fatalities occurring along the Californian US-Mexico border:
To this day, BA helps migrants survive their time in the desert through water drops during the summer, and supplying warm clothing, food and water during winter. (6) Exposure to the elements (including heat stroke, dehydration, and hyperthermia) climbed to be the leading cause of crossing deaths in the Southwest Border Sector between 1985-1998, highlighting BA’s importance to improving immigrants’ health during their crossings.(2)
Border Angels is a tax deductible 501(c)3 charitable organisation.
Citations:
[1]West, Mary Ann. “Thanks to Operation Gatekeeper, Death Toll Increases to Over 5,000.” The Huffington Post, 25 May 2011, www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-ann-west/thanks-to-operation-gatek_b_309744.html.
[2]Eschbach, K., J. Hagan and N. Rodriguez. “Causes and Trends in Migrant Deaths Along the U.S.–Mexico Border 1985–1998”. Center for Immigration Research, March 2001, p.22, https://web.archive.org/web/20070926034617/http://www.uh.edu/cir/Causes_and_Trends.pdf.
[3]“Southwest Border Deaths By Fiscal Year”, US Border Patrol, https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Dec/BP%20Southwest%20Border%20Sector%20Deaths%20FY1998%20-%20FY2017.pdf.
[4]“Migrants Crossing US-Mexico Border Dying at Faster Rate in 2017: UN Migration Agency.” International Organization for Migration, 4 Aug. 2017, www.iom.int/news/migrants-crossing-us-mexico-border-dying-faster-rate-2017-un-migration-agency.
[5] Pierson, Carli. "Two More Years Of Donald Trump's Anti-Immigration Tactics Will Create Devastation". The Independent, 21 Jan. 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-us-government-shutdown-mexico-wall-border-immigration-migrant-a8737176.html.
[6]“About Us”, Border Angels, http://www.borderangels.org/about-us/.
Trump has been targeting undocumented immigrants, and immigration from Mexico specifically, with the repeal of DACA and his promise to build a wall on the US-Mexico border which he claimed would be paid for by Mexico (he later tweeted that the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement would pay for it instead, and the ongoing US government shutdown is a result of Trump refusing to sign a Senate-approved stopgap spending bill on 20 December 2018 because it didn’t include money for additions to the aforementioned wall).(5) His derogatory and discriminatory rhetoric towards immigrants and policy moves can be read about in more depth in our previous non-profit introduction for RAICES.
Border Angels (BA) was founded in 1986 by Enrique Morones, who was inspired after taking a trip with members of his church to canyons in San Diego County where migrant families were living. BA is an all volunteer, non profit organisation that advocates for human rights, humane immigration reform, and social justice with a focus on issues related to the US-Mexican border. BA has a 3-pronged approach in its mission to reduce the number of fatalities occurring along the Californian US-Mexico border:
- preventing unnecessary deaths through the placement of life saving water stations in the desert, maintaining border rescue stations
- engaging in community education and awareness programmes that include guided trips to the border to learn about the history of US-Mexico border policy and experience the border fence firsthand to help dispel the myths surrounding immigration in the United States.
- providing free immigration services, legal assistance and consultations in Spanish and English every Tuesday night at the Sherman Heights Community Center to serve San Diego County’s immigrant population.(6)
To this day, BA helps migrants survive their time in the desert through water drops during the summer, and supplying warm clothing, food and water during winter. (6) Exposure to the elements (including heat stroke, dehydration, and hyperthermia) climbed to be the leading cause of crossing deaths in the Southwest Border Sector between 1985-1998, highlighting BA’s importance to improving immigrants’ health during their crossings.(2)
Border Angels is a tax deductible 501(c)3 charitable organisation.
Citations:
[1]West, Mary Ann. “Thanks to Operation Gatekeeper, Death Toll Increases to Over 5,000.” The Huffington Post, 25 May 2011, www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-ann-west/thanks-to-operation-gatek_b_309744.html.
[2]Eschbach, K., J. Hagan and N. Rodriguez. “Causes and Trends in Migrant Deaths Along the U.S.–Mexico Border 1985–1998”. Center for Immigration Research, March 2001, p.22, https://web.archive.org/web/20070926034617/http://www.uh.edu/cir/Causes_and_Trends.pdf.
[3]“Southwest Border Deaths By Fiscal Year”, US Border Patrol, https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Dec/BP%20Southwest%20Border%20Sector%20Deaths%20FY1998%20-%20FY2017.pdf.
[4]“Migrants Crossing US-Mexico Border Dying at Faster Rate in 2017: UN Migration Agency.” International Organization for Migration, 4 Aug. 2017, www.iom.int/news/migrants-crossing-us-mexico-border-dying-faster-rate-2017-un-migration-agency.
[5] Pierson, Carli. "Two More Years Of Donald Trump's Anti-Immigration Tactics Will Create Devastation". The Independent, 21 Jan. 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-us-government-shutdown-mexico-wall-border-immigration-migrant-a8737176.html.
[6]“About Us”, Border Angels, http://www.borderangels.org/about-us/.
