Desperate to flee political unrest, gang violence, extreme poverty, or extreme climate disasters, thousands of people resort to risking their lives every year to seek safety for themselves and their families in the United States. On Monday, June 27, 2022, a tragedy occurred that is “among the worst episodes of migrant death in the United States in recent years.” Sixty-two migrants who had crossed the US border were locked into an unventilated tractor trailer in the scorching heat outside of San Antonio, Texas and left to die. The bodies of forty-six people hailing from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador were found dead inside the truck after a person working in the area reported hearing a cry for help and spotted at least one body. Sixteen others, including four children, were hospitalized for heat stroke. Unfortunately, seven more lives have been lost since June 27th, raising the total fatalities to fifty-three at this time.
This horrific event highlights that our existing immigration policies offering humanitarian programs to shelter those in desperate situations are a failure. People seeking asylum have been subject to the “Remain in Mexico” program, forcing them to wait outside the US, often in dangerous situations, while their asylum cases are pending. Even after the Supreme Court ruled the Biden administration can end the inhumane policy, it is set to continue for several weeks. Regrettably, the Biden administration has failed to address any changes in policy to date.
Young people like Adela Ramirez, a recent Business Administrations graduate, and brothers Alejandro and Fernando Caballero of Honduras were among those starry eyed migrants seeking their American Dream who were loaded into the doomed trailer. Their lives and countless others through the years could have been spared if the US offered more accessible legal immigration channels.
Since 1980, community-run refugee resettlement organizations have welcomed “more than 3 million refugees from all over the world through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, or USRAP.” This is only a tiny fraction of the displaced people around the world. Our leaders need to recognize and create real pathways through such programs to open opportunities to those facing extreme circumstances, and to help them avoid losing their lives while searching to better those circumstances. Since the beginning of the Fiscal Year on October 1, 2022, the US has only resettled 12,641 people from around the world. This is nowhere near the Biden Administration’s annual target of 125,000 yearly refugee admissions.
In thinking about the droves of humans literally dying for the opportunity of a better life in the US, we stand with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas who is “heartbroken by the tragic loss of life,” and “praying for those still fighting for their lives. Far too many lives have been lost as individuals — including families, women, and children — take this dangerous journey.”
Indeed, it is time for immigration reform to find the paths to humane, legal immigration in a country founded by immigrants.