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Report Calls on the UN to Investigate the Crisis of Missing Migrants |
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December 18, 2024: The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) and three partner organizations have submitted a detailed report to the Special Rapporteur On The Human Rights Of Migrants in response to the Call for Input on the phenomenon of missing migrants. This report, focusing on Texas' Brooks and Maverick Counties and emerging cases in New Mexico, is based on documentation from the South Texas Human Rights Center, the Eagle Pass Border Coalition, and Battalion Search and Rescue. For nearly three decades, the "prevention through deterrence" strategy has forced migrants and refugees—including those forcibly displaced—into isolated and perilous regions along the border, due to the lack of safe and regular migration pathways. Immigration policies have created disproportionate risks and human rights violations, making disappearance and death the most painful outcome of militarized migration management. The true number of migrant deaths remains unknown, and the lack of governmental interest in collecting accurate data or properly recording migrants' remains underscores the profound challenges in locating the missing and reuniting them with their families. Key Findings - High Death Toll: Over 9,000 migrant deaths were reported from 1998-2022, with 895 deaths in 2022 alone. Human rights organizations estimate the actual numbers could be significantly higher due to underreporting and lack of proper documentation.
- Policy-Induced Risks: U.S. immigration policies, including the Prevention through Deterrence, have created dangerous conditions leading to migrant deaths. Authorities often fail to respond to distress calls, exacerbating the crisis.
- Identification Crisis: Many migrant remains are unidentified due to inadequate procedures for DNA collection and identification. In New Mexico, local authorities often resist recovering remains found by volunteer groups.
Recommendations
Immigration: - End U.S. immigration deterrence policies that criminalize migrants; terminate related laws and practices.
- Create long-term, rights-centered migration channels; align with Global Compact for Migration objectives on safe, dignified pathways.
- Respect the right to seek asylum under U.S. law; allow asylum seekers to await hearings within the U.S.
Humanitarian Aid & Rescue: - Decriminalize humanitarian aid by groups assisting migrants with food, water, shelter, medical aid, and transport to safety.
- Create independent emergency response systems; remove Border Patrol from search and rescue; hold BP accountable for negligence.
- Ensure timely 911 emergency responses; install beacons and water stations in high-risk areas monitored by independent groups.
- Standardize search, rescue, and human remains identification efforts among border counties.
Missing and Unidentified: - End deterrence measures like wall-building, militarized policing, and limited access to visas and asylum, which force migrants into dangerous crossings.
- Collaborate with civil society to prevent deaths, identify remains, and support respectful repatriation.
- Follow the Global Compact for Migration to address migrant deaths and disappearances through international collaboration.
- Standardize protocols for DNA collection from unidentified remains and train officials in collection methods.
- Establish an international monitoring mechanism to document causes of migrant deaths and human rights abuses.
- Develop a system for reporting and sharing missing persons data with consular offices.
- Require federally funded labs to process DNA from remains within 200 miles of the border and compare profiles with missing persons’ families.
- Integrate information on missing persons and unidentified remains into national databases like NamUs.
- Fully fund a national humanitarian DNA database to match remains with family samples; resolve backlogs since its 2020 creation.
- Allow humanitarian visas for families to conduct searches and repatriate remains.
- Designate respectful burial sites in border counties for unidentified remains.
NNIRR and its partners urge immediate action to address these human rights violations and ensure the dignity and safety of all migrants. |
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About the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and our partner organizations: The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) works to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees, advocating for human rights and social justice since 1986. The organization builds alliances with diverse communities and partners to promote policies that ensure the dignity and safety of migrants. The South Texas Human Rights Center focuses on promoting human rights and preventing migrant deaths in South Texas through community initiatives and emergency response efforts. They regularly receive and act on distress calls from migrants' families, coordinating with authorities to locate and assist those in danger. Border Vigil, a Human Rights initiative of the Eagle Pass Border Coalition is a community group in Eagle Pass, Texas, dedicated to remembering migrants who have died due to border policies and advocating for humane immigration practices. They also assist in identifying unidentified remains through forensic fingerprinting and DNA sampling, partnering with other organizations to bring closure to families. Battalion Search and Rescue is an all-volunteer group in New Mexico that conducts searches for missing migrants and works to recover and identify human remains in the Chihuahuan Desert. They document and report their findings to local authorities, often facing resistance, to ensure that the deceased are treated with dignity and respect. |
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