A joint report by the 太阳城网赌平台社会工作学院 and Harvard 全球 Health Institute describes a serious public health crisis at the United States-Mexico border, 成千上万的移民在美国寻求庇护.S. 易患传染病, 慢性健康问题, 精神健康风险, 暴力, 犯罪活动.
Desperate scenes of hazardous living conditions are depicted in the study, 由BCSSW助理教授Alejandro olayo - msamendez共同撰写, S.J: 避难所s with populations up to three times their capacity; encampments where thousands share a handful of outdoor showers and portable toilets; insufficient access to clean 水, forcing some migrants to bathe in the contaminated Rio Grande; and people of all ages receiving little or no care for PTSD, 抑郁症, 以及其他心理健康问题.
In “A Population in Peril: A Health Crisis Among Asylum Seekers on the Northern Border of Mexico,” Fr. Olayo-Mendez and his co-authors call for “a comprehensive response” to the crisis, 包括U的变化.S. and Mexican polices regarding migrants and asylum seekers and coordinated health care efforts involving both governmental and non-governmental actors.
“The full extent of the health crisis at the border has yet to be documented,报告说。, 但很明显，它正在增长. 因此，现在比以往任何时候都更需要可持续的解决方案.”
Fr. Olayo-Méndez’s BCSSW colleague Professor Thomas Crea was among those aiding in the ideation of the report.
While health concerns about migrants and asylum seekers have been given public exposure through advocates and media coverage, the HGHI-BCSSW report aims to provide a far-reaching basis for assessing needs and formulating responses. 其调查结果基于国际非政府组织收集的数据, 记者, 服务提供商, 并增加了一些证言——包括一些由Fr. 奥拉约-姆姆南德斯去年从墨西哥边境的个人那里.
“The report is an effort to show the situation from different angles, 通过不同的声音, 这是一场人道主义危机，而不是“安全危机”,’”他说。. Olayo-Mendez, 谁太阳城官网过人道主义援助和移民的交集, 还有关于人权的问题, 不平等, 运输迁移, meso-level结构, 以及所谓的“移民产业”.“我们想强调公共卫生状况。, 尤其是对移民的心理健康影响, 谁为了到达边境已经忍受了这么多.
“社会工作专业在这里扮演着重要的角色, because of the big-picture perspective we bring: how to serve and advocate for migrants in a holistic way, and to work with the staff that serves this population on the ground.”
“我们提供的证据越多, 我们对情况的了解越多, 我们的希望是, 更多的声音将联合起来要求变革 . . . 最重要的是, we want to make sure that people know what is going on at the border, to cut through the political dimensions and focus on the human aspect.”
美国的健康危机.S.-Mexico border has been building for the past two years, according to Fr. olayo - msamendez和他的合著者, in the wake of policy changes and practices enacted or encouraged by the Trump administration that affect migrants’ ability to seek asylum—a right guaranteed under U.S. 法律. One is “metering,” which restricts the number of migrants requesting asylum each day at a U.S. point of entry, requiring them to remain in Mexico for their turn to state their claim for asylum. 另一个是《太阳城官网》, 或MPP, where asylum seekers who have already been received and inspected by the U.S. 政府必须在墨西哥等待他们的法律诉讼.
其结果是，美国边境沿线的入境口岸陷入了僵局.S.根据《太阳城网赌平台》一书的说法，美国与墨西哥的边境.“自2019年1月以来，在MPP下，美国.S. 政府已经派出了超过64人,000 individuals to Mexico to await legal proceedings; of these, 537人已获准留在美国.S., and the average wait time for the initial immigration court date is almost 90 days. They have been joined by thousands more would-be asylum seekers idled by metering. The asylum process often takes three or more interviews before a decision is made. 目前，在此期间，寻求庇护者必须在墨西哥等待.
与此同时，报告指出，在过去几年里，典型的美国经济增长放缓.S.移民最有可能是单身成年人, it is now persons in family units or unaccompanied minors who form the majority: The 64,在MPP下被送往墨西哥的000人中至少有16人,000名儿童和500名不到一岁的婴儿. 越来越多的移民是为了逃离贫困或暴力, and given the arduous journey many take—often facing personal as well as financial danger—they are likely to arrive at the border physically and emotionally depleted. Some, such as mothers, pregnant women, and LGBTQI individuals, are at particularly high risk.
Entry points along the border where asylum seekers must wait are scarcely safe havens, 鉴于对食品等基本服务的需求激增, 避难所, 水, 以及医疗用品. Casas de migrantes—避难所s run by faith-based organizations—are typically “underfunded and overburdened,经常被迫配给食物或收取食宿费用, 而租房往往很贵, 过度拥挤的, 并且位于不安全的社区. 寻求庇护者的选择是蹲在废弃的建筑物里, 睡在街上, 或者加入临时组织, 大规模帐篷营地.
The report was largely researched and compiled before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, 因此没有解决它的影响. 但Fr. Olayo-Méndez said the coronavirus has unquestionably put a further strain on services and contributed to the overall stress and anxiety among the migrants and those aiding them. [在太阳城官网小组的评论文章中阅读更多内容 在边境应对COVID-19.]
亚历杭德罗·奥拉约·姆萨姆德斯.J.
《太阳城网赌平台》一书最后对美国政府提出了建议.S. 和墨西哥政府, such as ending MPP and metering; allocating more resources to hire immigration judges; reinstating family case management systems; increasing federally supported accommodation capacity; and developing a long-term, 寻求庇护者战略保健计划. 它建议非政府组织, 民间社会组织, and academic centers create educational materials for asylum seekers; empower religious leaders to deliver information on migrants’ health care rights and services available to them; advocate against governmental policies and practices harmful to asylum seekers; and promote the needs of migrants in high-risk populations, 比如LGBTQI群体.
Fr. Olayo-Méndez acknowledges that the current political situation in the U.S. 墨西哥对报告的建议来说不是好兆头, 但他相信这个项目是值得的. “我们提供的证据越多, 我们对情况的了解越多, 我们的希望是, 更多的声音将联合起来要求变革—and that the mounting voices will generate a response from both sides. 最重要的是, we want to make sure that people know what is going on at the border, to cut through the political dimensions and focus on the human aspect.”
“The findings of this report make it abundantly clear that the human condition of migrants at our doorstep is precarious,BCSSW院长Gautam Yadama说. “These migrants are not only facing a health crisis but a crisis of declining social, 经济, 以及法律权利. 结果是人们在迁徙, 一代孩子和家庭, 被剥夺了做人的尊严和生存的机会.
"I am pleased that the 太阳城网赌平台社会工作学院—and our colleague Alejandro Olayo-Méndez in particular—was able to contribute to this report on a very important humanitarian issue."
肖恩·史密斯|大学传播| 2020年8月