“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.
In their letter, the people in New Mexico told No More Deaths,“[One of the inmates here was last deported through Texas and he was] kidnapped and held hostage along with other deportees and was always at gunpoint. . . Some of the group of deportees didn’t have family or had no money to pay the ransom so this group killed them and the ones that paid escaped death but not a beating . . . On the other side of the border of Texas is where this takes place every day.”
U.S. deportation practices are exposing migrants to severe and unnecessary risks–including deporting people at night, to regions they are unfamiliar with, where they can easily be exploited and harmed.
Click here to join No More Deaths in taking action!
All migrants should be able to return to their county in the safest manner possible. Of course, authorities in Mexico and the United States must work together to make sure that all communities on both sides of the border are safe for residents and migrants alike–and that those who provide much needed assistance to migrants in Mexico border communities are protected. Throughout Mexico, those who bravely stand up to promote and protect migrant rights are increasingly becoming victims of threats and attacks themselves.
For more information on this important No More Deaths campaign–and additional ways to take action on this critical issue, click here.
