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Subscribe to RSSArgentinian forensic experts have traveled to southern Mexico to exhume 96 bodies thought to be those of Central Americans who died as they tried to get to the United States, according to local reports.
Six experts from The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) are working with local and federal authorities in the cities of Tapachula and Ciudad Hidalgo in the state of Chiapas, Mexico's Proceso magazine reported on Monday. (Link to story in Spanish)
The EAAF team, which plans to spend at least two months in Chiapas, arrived on Monday at a municipal cemetery in the city of Tapachula, along with medical, human rights and justice officials, as well as representatives of the Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran consulates, Proceso added.
The EAAF was asked to help identify the bodies in Chiapas -- the majority of which were placed in one communal grave by local medical officials -- by groups advocating for the rights of migrants, Proceso reported.
Migration in the Americas: Mom works in US while family stays in el Salvador
In most of Mexico, the bodies of indigent or unidentified people who have died in care are buried in group graves, with five to 10 corpses placed on each level, according to a Mexico forensics expert who asked not to be identified.
Non-governmental EAAF was established in 1984 to investigate the cases of some 9,000 disappeared people in Argentina under the military government that ruled from 1976 to 1983. It now works around the world.
The teams will analyze DNA samples from the buried bodies and those provided by families searching their missing loved ones, Proceso reported. The cemeteries are on routes known to be used by Central American migrants.
Migration in the Americas: The end of North America
The organization Voces Mesoamericanas (Mesoamerican Voices) requested the government of Chiapas look in the tombs for many missing migrants, the magazine said.
The organization has also looked along the so-called migrant route for clues to the location of some 2,000 migrants thought to have died along the way to the United States, Proceso said.
Central American migrants protest targeting by Mexico gangs
It isn't known how many of the estimated 500,000 Central American migrants who pass through Mexico on their way to the United States actually make it to their destination, according to the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.
Many migrants are preyed on by criminal gangs and suffer assault, sexual slavery, kidnapping and murder, the organization added.
The EAAF, Mesoamerican Voices and local officials in Chiapas were not immediately available for comment.
NBC News' F. Brinley Bruton contributed to this report.
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If they werent in pursuit of committing a criminal act......theyd probably still be alive.
"It isn't known how many of the estimated 500,000 Central American migrants who pass through Mexico on their way to the United States actually make it to their destination"
Well. I would hope none.....a freakin half a million people set out to infiltrate our country and no one sees this as a problem?
Do any Central American newspapers , TV, Radio ever publish details on what happens to people who migrate illegally, so that others might reconsider trying to get to the US? I don't suppose our State Dep't would consider local ads to inform potential immigrants of the dangers.
I agree with you all. Unfortunately, everywhere I go, there is a lot of South/central American people, towns, states. Inundated.
96 less illegal aliens to leach off the US. This is a "happily everafter story" after all
They were migrants. People who move from place to place. We don't know if indeed all of them were traveling without permission. What if they had visas and official travel papers and a gang of cartel members ambushed and killed them just to steal their paperwork and slip in?
For all we know, they may have HAD paperwork. And they chose to travel a migration route on foot because they knew that ten days after they got here they'd have to fork out $1200 US dollars just to stay longer, so they are traveling in a group with the money required to legally stay, and just became a tempting target?
They never reached here, so you cannot say for certain that they definitely were illegal. They would not have been 'illegal' in America until they'd crossed the border. There's no telling if they would have been ale to cross. They could have been shot by the border patrol. Stopped at the border and sent to deportation. Maybe some of these were women fleeing the unrest further down Central America and would have qualified to stay by claiming asylum under the Violence Against Women act.
Try to look past the knee-jerk reaction of being 'illegal' and see the whole picture. They weren't illegal because they never made it here. Is it fair to condemn someone for what they 'might' do? A baby dies of SIDS-let's count that one out as one less future lawbreaker. A little girl gets hit by a car and dies--let's write that one off as a future prostitute.
Let's put you in prison as a criminal because someday you might run a red light. I'll go to prison because someday I might jaywalk (okay, actually that's not a might, that's a 'will' because the traffic light by my house is broken and when I cross the street from the bus stop if I waited until the walk light came on I'll be waiting till probably next week) and oh, while we're at it, let;s just imprison the entire adult population of my municipality because there's been a law on the books since the late 1800's that prohibits swearing in public and EVERYONE over the age of three has been guilty of doing that at some point in their lives!
amanda: Before they sneak into the US, they aren't illegals. While traveling through Mexico they are called migrants.
You do realize that you are comparing a civil infraction with criminal fraud right? There is no comparison!
What…. Oh----- Well you
see Mr. Obama will be calling soon to offer his apologies regarding his new
open house polices for free Visa’s to everyone who can get to America
illegality..
Stealing the futures of America's children? Stealing the resources of America's poor? This is nothing?
Mexicans are killing foreigners???? Sounds like the ALAMO again.
I'm sure you would never ever break the law to try to get to a better life. But, one should take note and think. This is how the Mexicans treat illegals, why should we treat them any better. People are killed all the time in the rail yards of Mexico City. Nobody there cares.
Breaking the law to get a better life?NO i would not!As a LEGAL American citizen, if i break a law, i would get fined or jailed if not both.
Easier to "terminate" the herd by a coyote in Mexico than to fulfill their promise of "payments for safe passage" and follow through on getting them across the U.S. border safely.
The folks who want to enter the U.S. illegally, they should just wait and see IF Mr. Obama gets re-elected. IF Mr. Obama does get re-elected, he intends to cut back dramatically our border security and the number of border agents, then they can just walk FREELY across the border(s) without having to deal with the coyotes.
And yet most of the comments 2 weeks ago when the African Olympic Athletes "disappeared" for a better life in Europe were supportive.
Yup. Open borders coming soon, but then again, what will Homeland Security do? They have all that money and weaponry.
Show's what you know. Those Athletes have legal visas that are good until November. Some of the unaccounted for have already sought asylum. Which means they aren't sneaking in and just hanging out, then demanding benefits without having to pay taxes or demanding they not face time for identity theft.
Those athletes are exploring the proper channels and as of right now they are actually LEGAL in the UK! That is a major difference.
None of the immigrants deserved to die or be kidnapped. I don't blame someone for trying to have a better life and disregarding the law in desperate times. It is when they finally get caught they feel they are entitled to not face the consequences that I have a problem with. If just one of them would say "You know what, I committed this crime. I felt justified at the time and I don't regret it. But now I will do what is right and apply for citizenship the correct way" I would have much more respect and be open to certain relaxed policies. As long as some accountability is taken. But alas, we are dealing with millions of people who literally think they are above the law and don't want to have to jump through hoops to get what they want. That is just plain selfish!
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On a side note, if these bodies were found in Chiapas there is a chance that they could be natives slain by the gov't. As that is still happening in that state.
and obama, doing his best to turn america into a country like mexico,
Oh really, how? Or are you just spouting your Fox right wing hate again. Just admit it, you can't stand the thought of having a black man in the White House (unless he is cleaning the floors) eh?
too bad this one[you] has access to a computer
marlen101917......
At it again with your "racist" theme ? Getting really old, but that is all you can think about.
I suggest you do an Internet search for Mr. Obama's PLANS IF he is re-elected and find out what your "king" is going to do with our borders.
marlen you sound a bit bitter perhaps returning to your country of origin may help with that.
Yea, just like my red neck (tea party) neighbor who recently told me that he "would rather have Hitler in office over Obammy any day of the week." Get real!
@Uncle Henry: This IS my country of origin..
Marleen, i guess people like you cant debate without the race card when THE FACTS get in the way
Correct me if I'm wrong marlen, but wasn't Obama also Black in 2008? I sure thought he was ! Your idiotic racist rant is flawed on its' face !
Yea, just like my Liberal Progressive Terrorist (Bill Ayers supporter and friend of Obama) neighbor who recently told me that he "would rather have Stalin or Mao in office over Mittens any day of the week." Get real!
By your lack of logic, 50% of Democrats are Racist.. because they supported Hillary in opposition to Obama... Now that's real!
@Marlen
Unless you're a full blooded native American, this is NOT your country of origin. Additionally, the last time I knew, Obama was of mixed race, not black, so when people say he is our first black president, they are also wrong.
Native Americans were immigrants,,,get it right
chuckzul,
Anyone born in the USA that still lives here IS in their country of origin.
Full blooded native Americans, I assume you mean what is referred to as Indians; are from ancestors who originally came to the USA from Asia. There have been many excavations of human remains that show people of European descent were in the area that is now the USA prior to the Asians finding their way here.
No, Obama is not black anymore than an Oreo is black. I believe you would be hard-pressed to find many people anymore who are pure-breds.
Only Adam & Eve can call themselves "native".
You mean because Hitler actually cared more about his own people than foreigners?
Despite a lagging economy, the Obama administration has managed to surpass the Bush administration efforts to control the U.S. border. Here are the startling statistics:
Last year saw the highest number of people ever deported: 387,790, up from 116,782 in 2001 and 349,041 in 2008. Thus far this year, some 185,887 people have been deported, a record pace that, if maintained, will nearly double the number of deportations in 2010 to 604,133. The Administration has also doubled the number of agents assigned to the Border Enforcement Security Task Force and tripled intelligence analysts along the Southwest border.
(--TIME magazine, May 10, "Why GOP Senators Won't Play on Immigration Reform")
Even in this tough unemployment climate, as of this past spring nearly 1.25 million high-skill jobs remained unfilled," said Romney, in the economic plan released Tuesday. "A skills gap of that magnitude suppresses the productivity of our businesses and slows the overall economy. Highly educated immigrants would help fill that gap and get our economy rolling again."
Ron Hira, a public policy professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, characterized as "dubious" Romney's claim that there is 1.25 million unfilled high-skilled positions.
"None of the official statistics support a claim that there's a shortage of these occupations," said Hira. "Unemployment rates for these occupations continue to be twice what they should be at full employment."
Hira, who recently testified on high skills immigration reform before a U.S. Senate committee, also took exception to Romney's claim that "a great majority" of the nearly 300,000 foreign students enrolled in advanced degree programs in the U.S. "will return home."
Hira cites a study last year Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, a group funded by the National Science Foundation, which found 67% of foreign students earning doctoral degrees from U.S. colleges in 2005 have remained in the country.
By not limiting H-1B visas to advanced degree holders of U.S. universities, Romney "increases the pool of candidates, especially at the Masters level, enormously," said Hira.
Conditioning an H-1B visa on a job offer from a U.S. company is not a labor market test, said Hira.
"We know that foreign workers, even advanced degree holders, will accept less pay and poorer working conditions, displacing even more American workers and undercutting their wages and working conditions," Hira said.
John Miano, the founder of the Programmers Guild, was dismissive of Romney's position.
Most people in countries south of the USA have no access to this type of horrific news. Perhaps if they knew the dangers, fewer people would attempt to enter the USA illegally.
Really, you don't think that they know!
They know, and still risk everything. Might help put into perspective how terrible their lives are in Central America.
Unfortunately what happens is that the desperate are also mingled with the criminal. When they make it here, many attempt to re-create the same conditions that drove them away from their country of origin.
The continued amnesties and hopes for amnesties drive people in desperate economic situations to the US where welfare and food stamps and public housing (and a democratic voting registration) await them.
Stop giving illegals free stuff, implement mandatory E-Verify so they can't take jobs and they will stop coming here.
And Mexico decries about the way we treat their illegal nationals here in the US. WHAT HIPPOCRITS.1111
Stop feeling sorry for these cowards. The BBC reporters traveled with these animals and they claim they are coming to the US to "GET EVEN!".
The deaths are simply due to Obama immigration policy which is a quagmire of un-thought-out decrees from the White House that basically makes the US border an open pipe for human and drug trafficking. Obama basically encourages the slaughter of South Americans who want to illegally enter America. Obama encourages drug Cartels to send their drugs to the major cities, like Chicago. Now Chicago has 10 shootings per day! That is the Obama Way.
Maybe we the people need to let our govt know we need the borders shut.They already know? OK NVM
As long as the US isn't paying for this, WHO CARES?
...
96 votes gone !!
These folks must get on the same page as the administration.
...
They are dead, so that means they can still vote, right?
As long as we have an open boarder with the "Come and get it sign flashing" we will continue to have the illegal immigrant problem. Close the boarders, what other nation in the world has an open boarder like us? Even Mexico has a closed boarder, how funny is that! Not funny at all when you think about it.
You've got that right David! Tom Vilsack through the Department of Argiculture is even advertizing for food stamps in Mexico! A clear, " Just look what we have waiting for you" inticement to these poor souls !
I agree with Jamie Alvarez.
The deaths of these people and their blood are on the hands of our President, the Presidents before them, the activists who encourage illegal immigration, and governments of the countries who encourage their people to illegally migrate to the US to work so they can send remuneration back to their home countries so those countries can use the money banked by the workers.
The leaders of these countries encourage their people to undertake this dangerous journey, knowing that death awaits many of them. What do they care? The more that make it, the more money that ends up in the banks of the home country. The people who make it to America are less people they have to worry about feeding and providing health care, less people to burden the infrastructure and natural resources. Pile it all on the US, the stupid humanitarian US.
Mexicans are killing immigrants trying to come into the USA via Meixco? That doesn't even make sense. That is horrible. I though we only did that. Doh!
Yes, they are. They only want Mexicans coming across that border, expecially now that jobs are harder to come by.
A year ago, there was an offical Presidential letter sent from one of the Central American countries to Calderon asking for a meeting to discuss the safety of migrants who travel the Mexican corridor to reach the US.
Calderon spent millions building up the FENCE and defenses on his southern border, and containment facilities for illegals, to keep illegal aliens out of Mexico, and they weren't even trying to come into his country to stay and live... they only wanted to pass through on the way to the US. They get no trial, they get no attorneys, they get water, maybe a meal, and a truck ride back to the border and get turned loose.
Mexico tries to keep the billions to be made illegally in the US for Mexicans only.
Yea Brook we are so engaged in genocide of our illegal aliens that why their are only 20-30 million left - moron
OMG, these people died. Perhaps they were enroute to the US, perhaps not; the point is, they were killed by someone. I don't think it was the Mexican government who killed them, the illegal drug trade fueled by we wonderful US citizens supports a huge criminal element that kills large numbers of people.
Since all of us came from immigrants (unless you are a true Native American), and most of our forefathers came to the US because they were trying to improve their lives we shouldn't be so judgmental. I'm not saying that illegal immigration right, I am saying that you have to be very desperate for a better life to trek so many miles into an unknown country to find that better life.
Oh well, the haters will be haters. Nothing will change that...
Yes, they trek miles to jump in front of the line. Then start with their demands.
People in this country should appreciate what they have--American and immigrants--and stop always complaining about it. See what people go through to get here.
Bring back the gattling guns and set them up by the fences - perhaps that will deter the illegals. But gee, it's too late. The US is full of them. Everywhere you go you see them, no matter if it's north, south, east or west - send em back, and close the borders to all.
gina? gatling guns? we are much more efficient in neutralizing an enemy with modern weapons
This is Mexico's way of telling illegal immigrants that they better bring a lot of money with them if they hope to make it to the US.
If our borders were secure and violators were sent to prison for 10 years and then deported they would not return. if our borders were secure then we could stop the illegal importation of drugs - making it a mandatory life term if you are caught for both users and dealers. but Obama and his democratic cohorts make to much money off the drug cartels and through the selling access into the US by illegals. its the obama version of the immigration lottery
Romney haves roots and relatives in Mexico. The gate will be open if Romney wins,
I see. So, you're willing to pay for 10 years of incarceration for every single illegal alien currently in the United States out of your hard-earned tax dollars?
Has anyone seen that laser the curiosity rover has on it to zap rocks? Just imagine what that would do on the border.
Laura you do not know what you are talking about. There is no scientifc evidence of any Europeans arriving in the Americas prior to that of the Vikings. The arrival date of people from Asia could be as little as 14,000 years ago or 30,000 years ago. They certainly were here long before your ancestors got off the boat. As for the Central Americans, they are trying to escape the terrible situation in their countries that you as an American caused by your insistance on buying illegal narcotics. Nobody forces you to buy them and yet you blame Mexicans, Central Americans and everybody else for your dirty habbit. Hondorus is a very poor country with little good farm land or resources. Yet is sets in the middle of the drug route to the U.S. In the U.S. 4.2 people per 100 thousand are murdered each year. In Honduras, 80 per 100 thousand. Would you want to live in a place like that? No. I am tired of hearing all these racists rants from a bunch of ignorant jackasses. Go back to your 12 pack and reruns of Jackass.
Honduras is a very bad place indeed. Which is exactly why they need their youth to stay home and help bring it back on it's feet. By encouraging these people to leave deprives their country the opportunity to make things better.
Look, if 500,000 people try to come here illegally, what are they doing once they arrive? I feel the people who knowingly take them in (relatives, friends etc) and try to help them stay should be held accountable. If they did not have a soft bed to land in, that might stop a lot of them. In addition, if they are caught here illegally, put them on a work crew for a stated period and them ship them back. We make everything too easy. Get in line and apply according to our laws and then you will earn the right to be here. In addition, the ones leading them across the border should be thrown in jail for a year or two.
Let me git this straight. The Mexicans don't the immgrants from the south but we should take the mexicans in.
Bingo!
What could these people have accomplished for themselves and their posterity had they stayed in their native country and fought for better conditions there?
What has distinguished the British colonies from the Spanish, Portugese, and French is the distribution of land to the small land holder as opposed to the grant of large tracts of land to individuals and families; i.e. cartels. In Mexico and in Central and South America, there still exists a form of feudalism that discourages democracy and divides the population between the very wealthy and the relatively poor. I say relatively poor because they do not have equal access to the things a materialistic society values, yet they are not starving to death on the street corners by the thousands.
People are trying to immigrate for the easy working conditions, forty hour work week, huge salaries, fine house, fancy clothes, big screen television, big car and the safety net of the social services programs. They would do better to band together in their own lands and demand of their governments the opportunities for "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" " and be prepared to do as the framers of our Declaration of Independence did when they declared that "...we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." This is what took thirteen British colonies and the representatives of the colonists and created a nation and a government. We have provided the "shining beacon" to the world, the example of what is possible, but we are not responsible to provide "la dolce vita" to everyone who is willing to invade our communities and "cop a squat" in our country. Our ancestors made this country what it is today by hard work and sacrifice, and I am not willing to give it away to every beggar who comes to the door.
All that I would ask of anyone legally in these United States of America is that they pledge their allegiance to our nation, and be prepared to support and defend our Constitution and the integrity of our borders. No matter where your ancestors came from, if you are a loyal American and a contributing member of this society, then you have a place here.
If your ancestory is Hispanic and can be traced back to before 1854, then you were here before the United States' borders were closed to unrestricted immigration. Your ancestors decided to throw in their lot with the United States and become full fledged American citizens and gave up any claim to citizenship with any other country. Hispanics (Tejanos) died alongside Anglos defending the Alamo and throughout the war for the independence of Texas, fighting Mexican dictatorship. Similarly, if your ancestry is black African, whether in the United States as free men before or after the war between the states, your ancestors also chose to remain here and become full fledged members of this society rather than take advantage of the opportunity afforded former slaves by the US Government after the war to emigrate to Liberia or of the "Return to Africa" movement lead by Dubois and others in the 1920's.
That did not mean that they gave up their customs and traditions, only that they committed to become integral members of this society and this system of government; they committed to assimilating and to working within the system for the benefit of all of its citizens. Naturalized citizens from any part of the world along with native born Americans have an important part to play in this society and a vested interest in protecting it from the predations of invaders.
Those who enter the United States illegally are invading it and violating the principles upon which this nation depends for its continued existence. If you sanction such an invasion then you are a traitor to yourself and your fellow citizens. Although you may attempt to rationalize your toleration for this invasion with liberal humanist philosophy or Christian sympathy, if you actively, passively, or tacitly aid and abet illegal immigration, then you deserve to have your plight in life exchanged with the illegal immigrant; your citizenship with theirs and your comfortable life with theirs. How many Americans do you think would agree to admit another foreigner if the cost were that they would have to leave the United States and take the place of the illegal immigrant?