Action Alerts

On May 28, 2010, Anastasio Hernández Rojas, a 42-year old construction worker, husband, father of five U.S.-citizen children, and long-time resident of San Diego, CA, was brutally beaten, repeatedly shot with a taser while handcuffed, and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego. 

Witnesses, and Hernández himself, pleaded with the border agents to stop the beating, but they did not. Despite community outcry, protests, and countless meetings with agency leadership, Border Patrol has taken no known action against the agents involved.

Have you ever been inside a U.S. Border Patrol detention facility? I haven’t. But every year, thousands of migrants, many from Mexico and Central America, are held in these centers. Many have reported that their basic human rights were violated while in U.S. Border Patrol custody. Sadly, U.S. tax dollars are funding this humanitarian rights crisis at our Southwest border, and we need your help to stop it. First, let me tell you a few stories:

We’ve got just one simple, but critical action for you to take today:

Join our new Facebook campaign “STOP the Violence in Mexico” and help us grow the movement for justice and human rights in Mexico.  In communities across the United States, there are concerned people like you who are passionate about human rights. But unlike you, a lot of them haven’t heard about what’s been going on in Mexico or don't know how to turn their passion into action; action that can make a huge difference in real people’s lives.

We’re moving full speed ahead with the “Stop Gun Smuggling to Mexico” campaign and want to make sure to keep you in the loop. We’ve seen some small but significant progress lately, and there are a number of exciting developments on the horizon that we want you to know about, so check out the updates below!

If you haven’t already, click here to tell President Obama to stop gun smuggling into Mexico.

In too many communities across Mexico, violence has become a frightening reality of daily life, leading to the death of some 50,000 people in five years.

Recently, the Latin America Working Group teamed up with well-known Mexican actor Diego Luna to oppose one of the contributors to this violence: illegal gun smuggling across the U.S. border.

Click here to tell President Obama to Stop Gun Smuggling into Mexico.

This is horrible and shameful news, so we’ll get straight to the point.

Over the last 5 years, migrants have suffered more than 30,000 incidents of abuse and mistreatment while in Border Patrol custody, according to a shocking new report by humanitarian organization No More Deaths. Many of the abuses plainly meet the definition of torture under international law.

Click here to sign the petition calling for an immediate end to the abuse, clear and enforceable standards for Border Patrol short-term custody, and independent community oversight of Border Patrol.

Inés and Valentina have waited long enough.  It’s time for justice to be served.

Nine long years after being raped and tortured by soldiers in the Mexican military, Inés Fernández and Valentina Rosendo—two Me’phaa indigenous women from Guerrero, Mexico—have yet to see justice done. They’re tired of excuses and sick of delays, so they’re launching a campaign that calls on President Calderón to stand up against human rights abuses by the military and hold soldiers accountable for their crimes.

But Inés and Valentina can’t do this alone. They need your help.

Imagine waking up to the sound of AK-47s in the morning and going to bed to the cries of grieving families at night. Imagine a place where children cannot play outside for fear of being caught in the crossfire or gunned down at a birthday party.

In too many communities across Mexico, such violence has become a frightening reality of daily life.  Over the past four years, roughly 40,000 people have been killed in Mexico’s  “drug war.”  And many of the guns that fuel this violence were smuggled over the border from the U.S. into Mexico. 

“PLEASE SAVE US. We as in my fellow inmates find ourselves in the Torrance County Detention Facility and we are scared for our lives.”

Fearful of being kidnapped or murdered if they were deported to Mexican states that border Texas and New Mexico, individuals held on immigration charges in New Mexico sent this plea to No More Deaths, a humanitarian aid organization that works to protect migrants in the Arizona/Sonora border area. 

Migrants in our region are experiencing a human rights crisis, particularly those who journey northward through Mexico en route to the United States. But, throughout Mexico, those who bravely stand up to promote and protect migrant rights are increasingly becoming victims of threats and attacks themselves.

Speak out against threats and attacks on migrant rights defenders today!