Vigilante militia and treacherous journeys in excessive temperatures are just the beginning for some migrants. The Rio Grande looks calm, but it is wide and has dangerous undercurrents. Many migrants choose this route, not all make it. They are known disparagingly as ‘wetbacks’. Some migrants choose to make their way to the US through the desert. Good people will leave water in the hope they find it, and are able to keep hydrated.
If they cross the border safely, there could have many more problems ahead. Some of the things that have been documented are forced sterilization and hysterectomies, women are made to sign papers that are written in a language that they do not understand. Children are moved away from their parents into hotels, or transported to isolated asylum camps where they speak of unsanitary conditions, abuse and neglect.
Entering the country as an illegal immigrant puts extra pressure on those individuals. One case where Cristhian Bahena Rivera a Hispanic man who was sentenced for the first degree murder of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts in 2018. New evidence suggests that Rivera was threatened with the murder of his former girlfriend and child if he did not confess to Tibbetts murder. Rivera was targeted because he had entered the US illegally.
8368 and 204. Forced Sterilization Accusations at ICE Facility Fit with Trump’s Poor Treatment of Immigrants | Brennan Center for Justice. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/forced-sterilization-accusations-ice-facility-fit-trumps-poor-treatment. Accessed 7 July 2021.
CNN Witnesses Dozens of Migrants Trying to Cross Rio Grande – CNN Video. http://www.cnn.com, https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/03/13/migrants-cross-rio-grande-lavandera-ebof-dnt-vpx.cnn. Accessed 13 July 2021.
“Children Tell of Neglect, Filth and Fear in US Asylum Camps.” BBC News, 23 May 2021. http://www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57149721.
Nathan, Debbie. “A Vigilante Militia Defends an Imaginary Border.” The Intercept, 18 May 2019, https://theintercept.com/2019/05/18/border-militia-texas-mexico-guardian-patriots/.
Reyes, Raul A. Reyes Raul A., et al. “Opinion | Militias Aren’t Patrolling the Border. Domestic Terrorists Are.” NBC News, https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/u-s-mexico-border-isn-t-protected-militias-it-s-ncna997056. Accessed 10 July 2021.
“ACLU News & Commentary.” American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/news/. Accessed 10 July 2021.
Devereaux, Ryan. “The Bloody History of Border Militias Runs Deep — and Law Enforcement Is Part of It.” The Intercept, 23 Apr. 2019, https://theintercept.com/2019/04/23/border-militia-migrants/.
More Migrant Deaths Recorded in Heat along Arizona Border. https://news.yahoo.com/more-migrant-deaths-recorded-heat-190101013.html. Accessed 13 July 2021.
“What Is Happening at the U.S. Southern Border?” International Rescue Committee (IRC), 24 Mar. 2021, https://www.rescue.org/article/what-happening-us-southern-border.
Witnesses Come Forward with New Information in Iowa College Student’s Slaying. https://news.yahoo.com/witnesses-come-forward-information-iowa-135114181.html. Accessed 14 July 2021.
2 HPD Officers Ordered to Pay $1M in Damages to Houston Man. https://news.yahoo.com/ruling-clears-way-civil-trial-020504631.html. Accessed 15 July 2021.
Critical Research Journal: De Ferrier 