Human Trafficking, Sexual Assaults Key Aspects of Crisis on Southern Border
Article subtitle:
Rep. Crenshaw and a Texas sheriff explain the challenges their state faces from an unsecured border, and why a wall is needed
Article publisher:
Epoch Times
Article date:
15 January 2019
Article category:
National News
Medium
Article Body:
... Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said the sheer number of people crossing the southwest border illegally—most of whom are families and children hoping to seek asylum—constitute a humanitarian crisis. In fiscal 2018, almost 400,000 people were apprehended by Border Patrol after illegally crossing the border.
“So it [asylum] has created a draw. And so when that happens, you have dead bodies all throughout the southern border. It’s really sad to see this. Not only that, but you have a third of the women being sexually assaulted,” Crenshaw told The Epoch Times.
Two-thirds of migrants traveling through Mexico report experiencing violence during their journey, including abduction, theft, extortion, torture, and rape, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has been providing medical and mental health care for migrants and refugees in Mexico since 2012.
Almost 1 in 3 women surveyed by MSF said they had been sexually abused during their journey—60 percent through rape....
He said the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston spends 25 percent of its funding on illegal immigrant health care....
“We’re asking for about 234 miles of border wall. It’s extremely effective. And I know this from being somebody in the military—when we need to get places, barriers matter. They’re not easy to climb over. They’re not easy to dig under. They’re a mitigating factor, they’re a huge mitigating factor.”...
CAIRCO Notes
1. Someone claiming asylum must do so at the first hospitable country they encounter. They are not allowed to shop for destination countries.
2. Someone claiming asylum will do so through formal channels - for example, at a counsulate office or at a formal port of entry. There is no reason for them to sneak into a country where they intend to claim asylum.