New report calls out U.S., Texas and Mexico for endangering migrants with ‘cruel’ border policies

A new report from migrant-advocacy group the Hope Border Institute accuses the Biden White House, along with officials from Texas and Mexico, of using cruelty to deter migration, thereby endangering those seeking asylum in the United States. 

In an analysis released Thursday, the El Paso-based organization called on Biden to pull back on his recent executive order shutting down the ability to seek asylum at the border if daily encounters reach 2,500. It also asked the White House to expand legal migration pathways.
Researchers also said the administration should sue Texas to halt Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, a pricy border crackdown that’s edged the state into immigration enforcement, an area the courts have long held to be a federal responsibility.

“This report evidences the consequences of such an approach: Increased injuries and deaths for those fleeing from danger and who encounter danger on their journey, the separation of families, mental distress, physical injury and traumatization, and the creation of a market of suffering that unscrupulous actors prey on,” argues the report, titled Pain as Strategy.

Further, the document accuses the Mexican government of contributing to the problem by permitting deportation of third-country migrants. It also alleges that Mexico’s National Guard and National Migration Institute have colluded with smugglers during their enforcement work.

The report also argues that Texas National Guard personnel taking part in Operation Lone Star have made it more dangerous for asylum seekers to reach their destinations. It also calls out state personnel for firing pepper spray and rubber bullets at migrant families.

“Between May and June 2024, the Hope Border Institute, during medical interventions made in the course of Clínica HOPE, its binational humanitarian initiative, treated dozens of individuals who suffered from physical and psychological abuse at the hands of Texas agents,” researchers wrote.

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This article appears in Jul 3-9, 2024.