Emma Lightizer<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although many people have fled their countries to seek\nrefuge in the United States in recent years, the decision to do so is a serious\none that must take into account the dangers of migration itself. It\u2019s important\nto know what kinds of risks migrants face on their way to the U.S. because it\ngrants a crucial perspective on the severity of what they are fleeing from.\nThose who choose to leave feel safer taking the risks of migration than\ncontinuing to live in their home countries. What are the risks these migrants\ntake\u2013or in other words, what exactly is escape worth to them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether a\nmigrant travels alone or with help from a professional \u201ccoyote\u201d who specializes\nin smuggling migrants over the border, there are opportunities for abuse at\nnearly every stage of the undocumented migration process, in addition to the\nnatural, physical dangers inherent in the journey (Shetty). Notable among the\ndangers are human trafficking, extortion, robbery, kidnap, murder, threats by\nfederal governments or local police officers, and death by exposure in the\ndesert (Shetty). Women and children are particularly vulnerable to sex\ntrafficking, although the trip is a dangerous one no matter the identity of the\nmigrant (Shetty). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In strictly\nfinancial terms, migration is expensive. A reputable coyote will demand at\nleast $7,000 USD per person for a trip to the United States starting from El\nSalvador; depending on the country of origin, this number may shift a bit\n(Mart\u00ednez 248). This sum includes the coyote\u2019s pay as well as bribe money for\npolice, immigration officials, and the gangs and drug-trafficking organizations\nthat control territory along the route (Mart\u00ednez 249). Failure to pay any of\nthose people the amount they demand can result in kidnap, physical assault,\nrape, human trafficking, or murder. Sometimes, police work with local criminal\norganizations; if migrants won\u2019t pay bribe money, then police hand them over to\nhuman traffickers or gangs in exchange for a cut of the pay. In some cases,\npolice \u201cofficers themselves [are] VIP clients\u201d of sex trafficking rings, and\nwill therefore return migrants who escape back to their abusers (Mart\u00ednez 219).\nSince local authorities in many rural areas along the route are so easily\ncorrupted, there is very rarely legal recourse for migrants who are abused by\npolice or by criminal organizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A migrant who tries to make the trip\nwithout the help of a good coyote runs the risk of not knowing how much money\nthey will need to pay off criminal organizations and cops, and it\u2019s possible\nthat they will run out of money before they are able to get all the way through\nCentral America and Mexico. These people are especially likely to become\nvictims of criminal organizations. People who try to use the help of a\nparticularly cheap coyote are often also at risk: usually, cheap prices will\nmean that the coyote has either not taken into account the money demanded by\ncriminal organizations on the way or that they do not plan on bringing the\nmigrant to their destination (Mart\u00ednez 250). In some cases, cheap \u201ccoyotes\u201d\nwill even bring migrants to criminal organizations and sell them rather than\nactually helping them (Mart\u00ednez 252).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even beyond all the abuses migrants\nface at the hands of other people, migration carries other risks that are\ninherent to the environment of the route itself. Most profoundly, the desert\nprovides a host of dangers for the migrant. Because of extreme temperatures\u2013hot\nin the day and cold at night\u2013it is common for migrants to die from exposure\nwhile trying to cross the desert (Androff and Tavassoli 168). This is\nespecially common for migrants who go alone or are separated from their coyote\nand get lost in the desert. Attempts by humanitarian groups in the U.S. to\nleave water in shelter areas for migrants who are crossing the desert have been\nmet with hostility by governments in the region, and those who have left water\nhave been criminally prosecuted for littering (Androff and Tavassoli 168).\nThese prosecutions and related policies stem from generalized xenophobia and\nthe refusal to see migrants as humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bibliography:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Androff, David, and Kyoko Tavassoli.\n“Deaths in the Desert: The Human Rights Crisis on the U.S.\u2013Mexico\nBorder.” Social Work<\/em> 57, no. 2\n(April 1, 2012): 168.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mart\u00ednez, \u00d3scar Enrique. A History of Violence: Living and Dying in\nCentral America<\/em>. London: Verso, 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shetty, Salil. “Most Dangerous\nJourney: What Central American Migrants Face When They Try to Cross the\nBorder.” Amnesty International USA. February 20, 2014. Accessed May 10,\n2019. https:\/\/www.amnestyusa.org\/most-dangerous-journey-what-central-american-migrants-face-when-they-try-to-cross-the-border\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further\nReading:<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.amnestyusa.org\/most-dangerous-journey-what-central-american-migrants-face-when-they-try-to-cross-the-border\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2018\/10\/migrant-caravans-might-become-even-more-common\/573964\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n