La Resistencia Blames U.S. Government for Deaths of Immigrants
Revolutionary Worker #980, November 1, 1998
We received this statement from La Resistencia:
La Resistencia believes that once again innocent people are being killed on the border due to deliberate U.S. policies that have made crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. a death trap. On Monday, October 12, six immigrants were killed under the wheels of a freight train in Kenedy County, near the town of Norias, in far south Texas.
The six people had been sleeping on a railroad track. Authorities believe that the victims felt it was the safest place to sleep due to snake attacks. The bodies were found chopped into pieces. Authorities could not make any identifications. Initially, they were just trying to match body parts. Families throughout Mexico have been contacting authorities seeking information on the identification of the victims.
The majority of people who come into the U.S. from Mexico are escaping poverty and starvation. They are seeking employment in order to send money back to families in Mexico and Central America. The U.S. has made it virtually impossible for people to cross legally. With the border blockades and militarization, people are now forced to cross in more remote areas like the deserts, mountains and canals that are dangerous. This is a coldly calculated move to raise the cost in human lives of crossing the border without official permission. Record numbers have died this year from freezing, heat, drownings and shootings by the Border Patrol.
"This is another example of how U.S. policy contributes to the death of innocent lives. If people were allowed to cross in a humane manner and not cross in fear of the Border Patrol, then I don't think people would be forced to sleep on railroad tracks and be left slaughtered by a freight train. Justice does not exist under these conditions," says Mark Alvarado of the El Paso Chapter of La Resistencia.
La Resistencia believes:
1) People are driven from their homelands and come to the U.S. to survive.
2) All people have a right to survive regardless of legal status.
3) Being an immigrant is not a crime. Human life is more important than laws.
4) People with legal status have the responsibility to defy and resist unjust laws, struggle alongside our brothers and sisters who have been deemed "illegal," and protect them.
To contact La Resistencia: PO Box 2823, Houston, TX 77252-2823, (713)521-3099
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
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