“Las fronteras del sur de México y de Estados Unidos son cementerios de migrantes guatemaltecos, hondureños y salvadoreños”. Cofamide
— Evelyn Morataya (@EvelynMorataya) July 15, 2014
My Translation:
“The borders of the South of Mexico and United States are cemeteries of Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran migrants.” -Cofamid
Today crimes against migrants in US and Mexico borders are out of hand because today more than ever there is a major crisis going on the borders. Migrants from Central and South America are the ones who are being most affected. Millions of migrants, especially Central and South Americans are being victims of rape, kidnap, extortion and assassination on US and Mexican borders. According to an article on the Guardian , US and Mexican authorities have both united forces to decrease Central and South American migration and violence. The most obvious impact of these efforts to decrease migration and violence, have only meant a vast increase in deportations from Mexico, which have to a certain extent significantly reduced pressures on the US border. These efforts which have reduced number of migrants crossing over to US and Mexican borders, have yet not solved the main underlining problem on the US and Mexican borders, of violence and crime against Central and South Americans. Whether Central and South Americans are successful in crossing the borders or not, they are being still being victims of rape, kidnap, extortion and assassination at alarming rates which should no longer be ignored.
This tweet by Evelyn Morataya shows just one example of the manny thoughts on this growing issue on the US and Mexican borders. In her tweet Evelyn Morataya is tweeting a quote from Cofamide which stands for (Committee of relatives of the migrants who died and disappeared of El Salvador). Cofamide is a an organization that helps family members find missing migrants by helping them get a missing persons investigation started and by searching for them in migrant houses all around Mexico. According to the authors of the book Beyond Smoke and Mirrors , migrants are dying by the millions on these borders but yet not enough is being done to prevent these tragic deaths from occurring. Most people today in Mexico and the US are not aware of this problem which only makes it harder for something to be done. According to Evelyn Morataya’s twitter she is a migrant her self from Guatemala that now lives in Mexico. The fact that she herself is a migrant would explain her strong feelings toward deaths on the US and Mexican borders. But because she is a migrant her self would mean she would have a strong bias toward anything political having to do with migration, which can easily be seen by just looking at many of her twitters post. Evelyn Morataya’s tweet compares US and Mexican borders to Cemeteries makes it obvious to the reader that violence against Central and South Americans can and should no longer be ignored. Although this is the thought and opinion of just one person, by looking at the likes and comments to this tweet we can tell that many agree with the fact that something must be done soon.
This Tweet would be in interest of historians whom are looking for the basic opinions and feelings toward this growing and alarming issue one US and Mexican borders. While this might also be useful to historians in the sense that it might help them view how things have changed, soon this issue might no longer be an issue or it might have only gotten worse. This tweet would help show the basic feelings and opinions of many migrants. The tweet could have explained further in detail the issue, but instead it only uses a few words to make this alarming issue be known, which is why this tweet is so striking to the audience.
-Jennifer Aguilar Urias
January 20th.2016