Tragic deaths of 50 migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border should spur action
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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen:
At least 50 people who crossed the United States border from Mexico were found dead and abandoned in a tractor-trailer near San Antonio this week.
This should cause alarm and a call for a human rights emergency, followed by action.
But instead, it has created a tit-for-tat between opposing politicians about who is at fault for the immigration and border security policies that led to this calamity.
"These deaths are on Biden," tweeted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. "They are a result of his deadly open border policies."
President Joe Biden's spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre retorted: "The fact of the matter is the border is closed, which is in part why you see people trying to make this dangerous journey using smuggling networks."
The politics of immigration poisons our discourse and makes desperate people fleeing their homelands into political pawns. These people made a treacherous journey at great peril, and they died of heat exhaustion — a horrible death.
Decades of inaction on immigration reform have created uncertainty and loathing, and politicians use border security fears to win votes. Former Tennessee House Speaker and congressional candidate Beth Harwell recently released a commercial where she walked along the U.S.-Mexico border and promised to "finish President Trump's wall."
Six years ago, I wrote an editorial about the documented positive impact of immigration on Tennessee.
"Immigrants are not the enemy. In fact, they are adding to the prosperity of Middle Tennessee, the state and the nation," I wrote.
This is still true today, but if this latest tragedy won't move leaders to action, then shame on them. Tell your members of Congress how you feel.
In this week's newsletter, here are other articles you will find:
The executive directors of Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition and Justice for our Neighbors wrote a guest opinion column about Nashville's recent investment in legal services for immigrants.
Meet Mayra Flores of Texas, the first Mexican-born woman to be sworn into Congress.
Artists Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ricky Martin and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez helped launch the Hispanic Federation's The Advance Change Together initiative to support Latinx LGBTQ-plus communities.
Share your cuento: Be a Latino storyteller
The Tennessean is partnering with Plaza Mariachi to put on Latino Tennessee Storytellers program on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. Nominate yourself or someone else to volunteer to share a 10- to 12-minute story that evening. Email me your name, contact information and story idea to dplazas@tennessean.com.
Happy week! ¡Muchas gracias!
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee. He is of Colombian and Cuban descent, has studied or worked in several Spanish-speaking countries, and was the founding editor of Gaceta Tropical in Southwest Florida. He has lived in Tennessee since 2014. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tragic deaths of 50 migrants crossing the border should spur action
