Right now in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S. border agents are searching for a 3-year-old boy who went missing when he and his mother attempted to cross the Rio Grande. Both were swept away by the currents. The mother’s body was recovered. The toddler disappeared.
The little boy is now one of more than 5,500 people who have disappeared crossing the U.S.-Mexico border since 1994, when Operation Gatekeeper reoriented U.S. border strategy toward hyper-militarization. Many more thousands have been found dead. These terrible and heartbreaking losses are a direct result of “prevention through deterrence” policies that disregard human rights and push desperate people further into dangerous wilderness and swift currents.
On August 30, border residents will honor those who have disappeared crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on the International Day of the Disappeared, a day that commemorates the lives of those who have gone missing throughout the world. By holding space for them on the Day of the Disappeared, we are reminding people that real lives are lost due to the decades-long militarization of the southern border. We must continue to honor their memory by enacting policies that prioritize human rights in border governance, and provide immediate aid, rescue, and recovery to those in need.
