12 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
12 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
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title: "No More Deaths - No más muertes"
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The militarisation of the US southern border, with the erection of border walls, remote surveillance systems and the violent pushbacks carried out by the Border Patrol, as well as the vigilante killings perpetrated by the Minutemen paramilitaries, have pushed migrants to increasingly seek remote and dangerous routes into the US. The dangerous corridors, leading across 30-80-mile stretches of the Arizona desert, can result in disorientation, loss of life-saving supplies, dehydration, injuries and ultimately death. It is estimated that since the introduction of “prevention through deterrence” policy in the mid-1990s, more than 10.000 lives have perished along the US-Mexico border.
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Since 2004 the coalition of community and faith groups No More Deaths (https://nomoredeaths.org) has been organising assistance to migrants to help them survive these dangerous crossings. On the north side of the border, the coalition’s volunteers provide year-round direct aid, by leaving water jugs, food, socks, blankets and other supplies in desert, conducting search and rescue for the disappeared and assisting migrants facing deportation, whereas in northern Mexico they run an information helpline and provide aid kits to reduce damage to health to those planning to cross the border.
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Abiding by the principles of civil initiative action, where “people of conscience work openly and in community to uphold fundamental human rights”, No More Deaths are advocating for a reform of immigration policies, as well producing reports on the destruction of humanitarian aid, dangerous apprehension policies and disappearance of migrants at the hands of Border Patrol and Minutemen.
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As a prominent case of criminalisation of solidarity, in 2018 the No More Deaths volunteer Scott Warren was arrested and charged with felony for allegedly giving food and water to two migrants in the west desert near Cabeza Prieta, facing five years in prison. In the year prior, eight volunteers were charged with misdemeanours for providing humanitarian aid. All were acquitted.
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