CHILDREN & ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES AT THE U.S.-MEXICAN BORDER
BY H. BARRY WALDMAN, DDS, MPH, PHD, RICK RADER, MD, FAAIDD, FAADMD, DHL (HON), STEVEN P. PERLMAN, DDS, MSCD, DHL (HON) AND ALLEN WONG, DDS, DED
"People with disabilities face significant challenges when they are forced to stay for many months in Mexico waiting for asylum applications to be processed in the US" 1
"… a more significant issue: the treatment and livelihood of migrants with disabilities, especially those who are at the U.S./Mexico border. They are one of the most vulnerable of the populations, but little to no attention is given to them." 2
"What is the difference between a blind woman being admitted and paroled two weeks ago and four very profoundly disabled children being rejected days in a row? They won't tell me their basis for the denials." 3
The conditions are worse for detained minors with disabilities. Not only are they forcefully separated from their parents, but they also don't receive the medical attention and interventions that they need. Like the rest of the children in detention centers, authorities don't have information on the placement of children with disabilities to provide to the parents. 2
It is more complicated
• In recent years, unaccompanied minors have been journeying to the United States-Mexico border in great numbers in order to escape violence, poverty and exploitation in their home countries. Yet, unaccompanied children attempting to cross the United States border face treatment at the hands of government representatives which violates their inherent rights as children. Their rights as children are clearly delineated in various, international human rights documents which merit increased understanding of and recognition by the U.S. government. 3
• Human Rights Watch research in Ciudad Juárez – a city across the border from El Paso, Texas – found that the Mexican government does not have a proper system in place to screen and identify asylum seekers with disabilities and chronic health conditions. The authorities have not ensured physical accessibility in shelters, even new ones. Nor are they consistently providing information about and access to health care for asylum seekers with disabilities or chronic health conditions. 1
• Disability Rights International found a high death rate of children with disabilities at one private institution – Casa Gabriel, near Ensenada, in the state of Baja, California, Mexico. Most of the children living there had cerebral palsy or what seemed like muscle atrophy. Children spent most of their time in wheelchairs and/or lying down in beds and cribs, so it was difficult to discern whether the atrophy was a disability from birth or caused by the lack of movement and activity provided by the facility. 4
• Migrants with disabilities already come from a compromised environment in many parts of Central America. According to the United Nation's Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD), Hondurans with disabilities are often threatened and extorted by Maras and other criminal gangs. The Committee also found that discrimination against people with disabilities in Guatemala stems from systematic exploitation, violence and abuse. There are no known measures for their protection, recovery and reparation. 2
NUMBERS
"The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. (sic) Today, more than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the world's migrants. The population of immigrants is also very diverse, with just about every country in the world represented among U.S. immigrants… Most immigrants (77%) are in the country legally, while almost a quarter are unauthorized…" (Pew Research Center) 5
DIVIDED OPINIONS: Americans differ on future levels of immigration. A quarter said legal immigration to the U.S. should be decreased (24%), while a third (32%) said immigration should be increased.
More than 1 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. each year. In 2018, the top country of origin for new immigrants coming into the U.S. was China, with 149,000 people, followed by India (129,000), Mexico (120,000) and the Philippines (46,000).
• In fiscal 2019, a total of 30,000 refugees were resettled in the U.S. The largest origin group of refugees was the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by Burma (Myanmar), Ukraine, Eritrea and Afghanistan. Among all refugees admitted in fiscal year 2019, 4,900 are Muslims (16%) and 23,800 are Christians (79%). Texas, Washington, New York and California resettled more than a quarter of all refugees admitted in fiscal 2018.
• Around 337,000 immigrants were deported from the U.S. in fiscal 2018, up since 2017. Overall, the Obama administration deported about 3 million immigrants between 2009 and 2016, a significantly higher number than the 2 million immigrants deported by the Bush administration between 2001 and 2008. In 2017, the Trump administration deported 295,000 immigrants, the lowest total since 2006.
• American opinions are divided on future levels of immigration. A quarter said legal immigration to the U.S. should be decreased (24%), one-third (38%) said immigration should be kept at its present level and almost another third (32%) said immigration should be increased. 5
Disability access policy
"U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service is committed to strengthening and supporting full inclusion and equal opportunity for persons… with disabilities in its programs and activities in accordance with Department of Homeland Security policy and regulations. CBP takes pride in having developed multiple resources and strategies to provide disability access and embed nondiscrimination for individuals with disabilities…" 6
But
But "For a week, an immigration lawyer has been asking U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to allow four mentally disabled children to cross into the United States from Mexico at a South Texas port, but she said border officers have steadfastly refused them entry." 7
Horrific conditions at a Clint, Texas, Border Patrol facility came to light last week when attorneys visiting the site described unaccompanied children babysitting each other, premature infants without adequate care, and other horrendous circumstances, described as 'concentration camps.' (sic) … Disabled kids in custody have the right to disability protections." 8
"The 27-year-old had traveled with his cousin and her son, escaping relentless gang violence back home. Like thousands of migrants arriving before them, they were forcibly separated by the authorities after crossing the US-Mexico border… Among the papers that José had given to the officials was a statement from his doctor, back in El Salvador. It said that José had the cognitive age of a four-year-old child." 9 "Mexico has failed to implement the UN Convention on The Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Disability Rights International has documented severe abuses towards persons with disabilities living in institutions since 2000. Unfortunately, we can only conclude that nothing has changed." (sic) 10
Change and Improvement?
"On January 20th, the Biden Harris Administration took the first steps in a broad, whole of government effort to finally reform our immigration system, including sending to Congress legislation that creates a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in and contributing to our country. Today, the Administration is announcing a series of additional actions it is taking to rebuild and strengthen our immigration system.
Today's actions build on executive actions the President took his first day in office, including steps to preserve and fortify protections for Dreamers, end the Muslim and Africa ban, halt border wall construction and protect Liberian nationals living and working in our country. On day 1, the President also sent the United States Citizenship Act to Congress, which seeks to modernize our immigration system and smartly manage our borders, while addressing the root causes of migration." 11
"On February 2, 2021, President Biden signed a series of Executive Orders to put an end to cruel policies that harm children seeking safety at the U.S. southern border, including establishing a taskforce to reunite children." 12
"Since Biden's inauguration, the United States has seen a dramatic spike in the number of people encountered by border officials. There were 18,945 family members and 9,297 unaccompanied children encountered in February – an increase of 168% and 63%, respectively, from the month before, according to the Pew Research Center." 13 (emphasis added)
Note: There were no comments regarding the numbers of individuals with disabilities encountered by border officials. •
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
H. Barry Waldman, DDS, MPH, PhD is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Department of General Dentistry, Stony Brook University, NY. Email: h.waldman@stonybrook.edu. Rick Rader, MD, DHL (Hon) is the Director of the Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center, Orange Groove, Chattanooga, TN; Senior VP Public Policy, American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry; Adjunct Professor, Human Development, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. He is Exceptional Parent Magazine's Editor in Chief. Steven P. Perlman, DDS, MScD, DHL (Hon) is the Global Clinical Director and founder, Special Olympics, Special Smiles; and Clinical Professor of Pediatric Dentistry, The Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine. Allen Wong is Professor at University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni, School of Dentistry, San Francisco CA, and Global Clinical Advisor, Special Olympics.
References
1. Human Rights Watch. Mexico: risks at border for those with disabilities. Available from: hrw.org/news/2019/10/29/mexico-risks-border-those-dis- abilities Accessed March 13, 2021.
2. Kim S. The forgotten: disabled and detained at the border. Available from: f orbes.com/sites/sarahkim/2019/06/28/immigrants-with-disabilities/?sh=9a284ab2cb60 Accessed March 14, 2021.
3. Ataiants J, Cohen C. Unaccompanied children at the United States border, a human rights crisis that can be addressed with policy change. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5805654 Accessed March 13, 2021.
4. Disability Rights International. At the Mexico-US border and segregated from society: Children and adults with disabilities subject to arbitrary detention, abuse and early death inside Mexican orphanages and institutions. Available from: driadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/MEX-Report-May-2019.pdf Accessed March 14, 2021.
5. Budiman A. (Pew Research Center data) Key findings about U.S. immigrants. Available from: pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/20/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/ Accessed March 14, 2021.
6. U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection. Disability access. Available from: cbp.gov/about/eeo-diversity/disability-access Accessed March 14, 2021.
7. Schanchez S. CBP denies 4 disabled migrant children entry into South Texas, lawyer says. Available from: borderreport.com/news/top-stories/migrants-lawyer-cbp-tougher-on-crossing-disabled-children-families-at-south-texas-port/ Accessed March 14, 2021.
8. Smith SC. Meet the people fighting for health care access for disabled kids detained at the border. Available from: vox.com/first-person/2019/6/26/18716078/concentration-camps-border-detention-kids-immigrants-disability Accessed March 15, 2021.
9. Gabbatt A. Like a child: the disabled migrant stranded and alone in Mexico. Available from: theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/27/mexico-disabled-migrant-stranded-trump Accessed March 15, 2021.
10. Disability Rights International. Crimes against humanity: decades of violence and abuse in Mexican institutions for children and adults with disabilities. Available from: driadvocacy.org/mexico-crime-against-humanity/ Accessed March 15, 2021.
11. Fact sheet. President Biden outlines steps to Reform Our Immigration System by Keeping Families Together. Available from: whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/02/fact-sheet-president-biden-outlines-steps-toreform-our-immigration-system-by-keeping-families-togetheraddressing-the-root-causes-of-irregular-migration-and-streamliningthe-legal-immigration-syst/ Accessed March 15, 2021.
12. Save the Children.org. How is save the children helping children at the border? Available from: savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/emergency- response/us-border-crisis Accessed March 15, 2021.
13. Associated Press. Border surge a new challenge for Biden. Newsday, pA13. March 21, 2021.