CRS: failure of immigration reform turns deadly

Social justice news
July 2007

CRS: failure of immigration reform turns deadly
In the hours after comprehensive immigration reform died in Congress, Marta Yolanda Gonzalez-Pineda was dying in the canyons 95 miles southeast of Tucson. The 34-year-old had made it through the desert from Guatemala before stomach and knee pains set in.

Her sister, Angela, went for help. But in the end, Gonzalez-Pineda died like many before her—trying to cross the Sonora Desert for a chance at a better life in the United States.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) fears border crossing deaths could increase. With immigration patterns changing, CRS believes the lives of more women and children could be lost in a phenomenon once largely restricted to men as more people cross the border to reunite with their family.

The Arizona Daily Star reports that since October 1, at least 116 people have died in the area surrounding Tucson. In the scorching heat of July alone, at least 11 people died, about half of them women. And CRS suspects the actual death toll is much higher, as many deaths go unreported.

“Whereas migration used to be a primarily male phenomenon, more and more women are now feeling compelled to migrate too,” said Erica Dahl Bredine, Country Manager of Catholic Relief Services’ Mexico Program. “While this is in part a reflection of the economic situation in their home countries, it is also the tragic result of our broken immigration system.”

Under the current immigration system, families are split across the border—sometimes for many years—as backlogs on family visas pile up and increased restrictions on migration make it impossible for families to reunite in a timely and humane manner. This creates unnecessary suffering, disintegrates families and exacerbates the dangerous if not deadly conditions under which immigration occurs, as families seek to be reunited after so many years of separation.

True and effective immigration reform must provide a system that is legal and safe. It must provide pathways to legal residence and citizenship for immigrants already living in the United States. It must create a program that allows workers to provide for their families—the cornerstone of our society—and keep them together. And it must keep families intact by cutting down on family visa backlogs.

Without reform, the suffering will continue and people like Gonzales-Pineda will continue to lose their lives in search of better ones in the United States.

CRS officials are urging elected officials in Congress to return to comprehensive immirgation reform as soon as possible.

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