Chinese Migrants Die Off Coast of Mexico

The BBC reports that eight Chinese nationals drowned this week on their journey from Mexico into the United States. Their bodies were found on a nearby beach.

I highlight this for two reasons:

First, the death of Chinese nationals en route to the U.S. is a foreseeable consequence of the recent uptick in Chinese nationals crossing into the U.S. via the Southern border. (See our prior posts here and here).

Second, for those who teach about or research on the dangers of migration and border deaths, it is helpful to remember that people die trying to enter the U.S. via water. We tend to focus on deaths in the desert, the Rio Grande, or from falls off the wall. There is a sense that capsizing boats is a Mediterranean migration issue. Unfortunately, it’s one migrants to the U.S. can also fall victim to.

-KitJ