Operation Gatekeeper Deaths Continue

The death toll on the U.S.-Mexico border has risen dramatically over the last 11 years ever since the Border Patrol launched Operation Gatekeeper in 1994 during the Clinton administration. I believe that this is one of the most immoral actions this nation has undertaken in the name of plenary power over immigration. Most of the deaths are preventable, because the enforcement mechanism intentially closes off the easier parts of the border to cross, with full knowledge in the minds of enforcement officials that border crossers then will have cross through treacherous territory (deserts or high mountains). The construction of more fences (as required by the Sensenbrenner legislation) will only make things worse. Extreme poverty and oppression continue to propel folks across the border. In the past fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 451individuals lost their lives trying to cross.

Source: El Diario/La Prensa (NYC), Dec. 22, 2005
See also: The Dark Side of Operation Gatekeeper, 7 U.C. DAVIS J. OF INT’L L. & POL’Y 121 (2001).
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