Human Rights
Organization Reveals Barriers Faced by Immigrant Victims of Crime, Identifies
Indigenous and Latino Communities and People of Color Among Those Targeted in
Discriminatory Practices
Communities living along the U.S.-Mexico
border, particularly Latinos, individuals perceived to be of Latino origin and
Indigenous communities, are disproportionately affected by a range of
immigration control measures, resulting in a pattern of human rights
violations, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) reported this week.
The organization’s new report, In Hostile Terrain: Human Rights Violations
in Immigration Enforcement in the U.S. Southwest, highlights systemic
failures of federal, state and local authorities to enforce immigration laws on
the basis of non-discrimination.
Among the many findings, the report
illustrates that the United
States is failing in its obligations to
respect immigrants’ right to life, ensure access to justice for immigrant
survivors of crime, particularly women and children, and recognize the border
crossing rights of indigenous communities.
According to the U.S.
government, there are approximately 14,500-17,500 people trafficked into the United States
each year for labor or sexual exploitation. However, barriers caused by
breakdowns in the system that identify immigrant survivors of trafficking leave
many without any relief from immigration detention and deportation. Of the
5,000 T-visas available annually to survivors of human trafficking, statistics
show that only six percent are actually utilized.
«The culture around immigration in the United States
has created a perfect storm — survivors of trafficking and other crimes like
domestic violence are increasingly seen as criminals rather than as victims,”
said Justin Mazzola, Amnesty International researcher and lead author of the
report. “At the same time, fewer people are willing to report such crimes, as
they feel it may expose them to immigration enforcement. In addition,
many feel that police will be unable or unwilling to help.”
Carolina, a Honduran native who was brought to the United
States after being repeatedly sold for sex, beaten and
drugged, was held for six months in detention in Pearsall, Texas,
after immigration agents found her in the trunk of a car crossing the
U.S.-Mexico border. While detained, Carolina was
denied certification as a trafficking victim because she had originally wanted
to come to the United States
voluntarily before she was sold into sexual slavery and trafficked into the
country.
It was only after a review of her case in
February 2011, more than two years after she was discovered in the car trunk,
that Carolina’s trafficking victim visa was
approved, allowing her to remain in the United States and become eligible
for mental health and support services. «Now, I can finally begin to
heal,» Carolina
said following her release from detention.
Immigration control measures increasingly
jeopardize individuals’ right to life when crossing the border. U.S. policies intentionally reroute migrants
from traditional entry points to the most hostile terrain in the Southwest United States, including crossings over vast
deserts, rivers and high mountains in searing heat. From 1998 to 2008, as
many as 5,287 migrants died while attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico
border.
The report finds that indigenous communities
are left particularly vulnerable to discrimination and other abuses stemming
from immigration enforcement. Indigenous peoples, whose traditional territories
and cultural communities span the U.S.-Mexico border and necessitate frequent
crossings, are often intimidated and harassed by border officials for speaking
little English or Spanish and holding only tribal identification
documents.
Furthermore, federal immigration programs
that engage state and local police in enforcing immigration laws place Latino
communities, Indigenous communities and communities of color along the border
at risk of discriminatory profiling. Because monitoring and oversight of these
immigration programs is vastly inadequate, those responsible for human rights
abuses are rarely held to account. As a result, such practices, including
targeting individuals based on their perceived ethnicity, have become
commonplace and entrenched, fostering a culture of impunity that perpetuates
discriminatory profiling. The recent proliferation of state laws that target
immigrants place them at further risk of discrimination and impedes their right
to access education and essential health care services.
Texas-born actress Amber Heard, who
participated in a research mission to the Southwest border with Amnesty
International, said: «I was moved to tears upon hearing the stories of the
ill-treatment of immigrants. These are individuals whose only objective is
providing for their families. If our nation is to promote and protect human
rights around the world then we need to start implementing that notion at home and
must do better.
Among its recommendations, Amnesty
International urges the U.S.
government:
??to suspend all immigration enforcement
programs pending a review by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of
Inspector General to determine whether the programs can be implemented in
a non-discriminatory way
??to pass legislation that guarantees
equitable access to justice and protection for survivors of crime
???to respect and facilitate the use of
indigenous identity papers and immigration documents for travel across
borders
??and to ensure, as a matter of priority,
that its border policies and practices do not have the direct or indirect
effect of leading to the deaths of migrants
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace
Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million
supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for
human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses,
educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever
justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
