Central America Influx Is Humanitarian Crisis

By Mark Lusk

For generations, individuals and families from Mexico and Central America have migrated to the United States for economic reasons — to escape poverty, find jobs and send money home to desperate relatives.

That has all changed. The new migrants are not so much here to look for a job, but are fleeing for their lives.

The drug wars in Mexico and the outbreak of mass violence in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua have created untenable situations for thousands. Since 2006, an estimated 130,000 Mexicans have been murdered and 27,000 have “disappeared.”

In Central America, the outbreak of unrestrained organized crime, gang violence, and state terrorism has displaced thousands of migrants who have fled for their personal safety. Crimes against women have escalated. San Pedro Sula, Honduras  is now ranked as the most dangerous city in the world.

We are facing a humanitarian crisis as thousands of refugees from these countries have escaped to the United States to avoid violence, extortion, crime and torture.

During the first half of this year, federal authorities apprehended 162,000 migrants in the south Rio Grande Valley alone. Among them were over 47,000 unaccompanied children who migrated to join their parents in this country.

In the past month, so many families from Central America have been detained by federal authorities that detention centers in south Texas are in excess of capacity.

Families have been flown to El Paso, Denver and Phoenix for processing. Several churches and projects like El Paso’s Annunciation House are providing shelter while helping them reunite with family members in the United States. Over the past few weeks, volunteers in El Paso have assisted over 400 people from Central America.

I have met many such refugees and their stories are filled with heartbreak. Not one of them came to this country because they wanted to; they came because they had to. It is forced migration.

In dozens of conversations with refugees, I have heard several common threads. People are leaving because they witnessed a family member killed. Others have been tortured. Some have been targeted for death by gangs and organized crime.

Business owners have been extorted and told to pay a “cuota” or face the consequences. Too many have been imprisoned without cause.

During the perilous journey north to the border, they have witnessed abductions, rape, forced prostitution and people falling from the trains.

Too many of these families have been treated inhumanely and held in crowded centers while being processed.

Yet, rather than viewing this influx of refugees as a humanitarian crisis, many have fallen back on old and stale narratives about “illegals flooding our borders.” Political leaders see it as an opportunity to gain political advantage by claiming that the border is not secure.

Too few seem to care about the fact that this latest wave to hit south Texas is comprised almost exclusively of women and children who are trying to reach a family member in the United States.

Everyone, it seems, is intent on deporting them as fast as possible.

Our nation has long been a refuge for immigrants who have fled war, violence and military persecution. It is time for us to see this for what it is — a humanitarian issue, not an “illegal immigrant” problem.

The Human Rights Committee of the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers urges the public to view this as a social justice issue and to ask our federal elected officials to formulate an immediate response that is humane and which reunites refugees with their families in safe conditions.

Mark Lusk of El Paso is chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.