Violence against refugees will increase, rights group warns

by Demetria Martinez

Refugee rights groups are warning that violence against immigrants and people of color along the U.S.-Mexico border will greatly increase now that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has become part of the new Department of Homeland Security. "Every immigrant, or anyone who is perceived as one, is now a potential terrorist," said attorney Isabel Garcia of the Tucson, Ariz.-based Coalicion de Derechos Humanos. The March 1 merger of some 22 agencies into the new department will create the largest standing armed force in the country. The department will have 70,000 armed agents for border and interior immigration enforcement.

"The Homeland Security Department's focus and massive armed force will further militarize the U.S.-Mexico border, resulting in more migrant deaths and rampant human rights violations," she said. "Border militarization has been devastating. It does not address the causes of migration and does not protect migrants or border communities."

Before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, enhanced border enforcement strategies had already claimed the lives of over 2,200 migrants between 1994 and 2001, Garcia said. In particular, the successful sealing off of traditional urban crossing areas by the Border Patrol has forced migrant families to attempt to walk across lethal desert terrain of Arizona.