Opinion The real tragedy is unfolding on the Mexican side of the border
News reports are highlighting harrowing images from northern Mexico. American reporters and activists have begun to appreciate the dire conditions faced by impoverished and forgotten immigrants stuck on the banks of the Río Bravo in makeshift camps without services — or hope.
On Friday, hours after the Title 42 border policy expired, Amy Fischer, advocacy director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA, tweeted a picture of a makeshift tent in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Tex. “You can hear a baby coughing and crying for her mom from inside. These are the conditions that families with small children have to live in,” Fischer wrote. “This is the real crisis — a humanitarian one.”
But none of this is new. Mexican journalists have been closely covering this deplorable situation for months.
In Matamoros, the encampments have long been ground zero for disease, violence and myriad other indignities. And it’s getting worse. My Univision colleague Jorge Ramos reported from the city’s migrant settlements in recent days. “I am outraged by the way immigrants are being treated in Mexico,” he told me. “They live in campsites without water, covered in garbage and excrement. The children are in rags and full of infections. And nobody does anything.”
In Mexican cities across the border, shelters that support migrants are overwhelmed by the number of people seeking help. This is happening in other places, including Mexico City, where authorities recently closed down a derelict encampment that nonetheless was crucial for the survival of more than 800 people. Shelters’ lack of capacity to provide for all the migrants’ needs explains, in part, the terrible conditions migrants face in Matamoros, Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana. This is not the shelters’ fault. They are doing the best they can with very little government support.
Mexico and the United States are both issuing threatening statements meant to deter people considering the dangerous trip. But those threats are not likely to have an effect, as a second, contradictory narrative is also taking shape.
In a recent interview, Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that Mexico might be a good final destination for those looking to leave their homes. “In Mexico, for example, right now, there are, in parts of the country, labor shortages that they’re interested in meeting through migration.” He went on to suggest that though some parts of Mexico might be perilous, others offer safety for immigrants. “It’s, as you know, a vast country,” Blinken insisted.
This is irresponsible rhetoric.
For one, Mexico is far from safe. It is considerably more dangerous than the United States, particularly for immigrants, who have suffered abuses and humiliation that, in some cases, defy imagination. Federal and state officials in Mexico have systematically left immigrants, especially children, defenseless. The United States might not be able to address any of these issues directly, but it should not play any part in exacerbating an already desperate situation.
The Biden administration needs to find better ways to expedite asylum claims. The backlog in the U.S. immigration bureaucracy is daunting, and no easy fixes appear within reach. But too few resources have been expended on solutions that could help mitigate the crisis. For example, the controversial CBP One app, through which potential refugees can request scarce appointments at the border, seems designed to frustrate rather than help immigrants.
Beyond that, both Mexico and the United States should be working tirelessly to implement concrete financial aid programs to help shelters improve or expand their facilities to care for migrants. Additionally, officials need to guarantee minimum security and dignity for the thousands of people who arrive at the border or who have been sent back to Mexico while they wait for a fair opportunity to seek asylum.
This is a moral imperative. While misery and despair might dissuade people from journeying to the border, deterrence cannot be synonymous with cruelty. If nothing is done, sooner or later catastrophe will strike again.
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