集美麻豆News > Nation, World & Society > Social Work > Health crisis on the border

A joint report by the Boston College School of Social Work and Harvard Global Health Institute describes a serious public health crisis at the United States-Mexico border, where thousands of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. are vulnerable to infectious diseases, chronic health problems, mental health risks, violence, and criminal activity.

Desperate scenes of hazardous living conditions are depicted in the study, co-authored by BCSSW Assistant Professor Alejandro Olayo-Me虂ndez, S.J: shelters with populations up to three times their capacity; encampments where thousands share a handful of outdoor showers and portable toilets; insufficient access to clean water, forcing some migrants to bathe in the contaminated Rio Grande; and people of all ages receiving little or no care for PTSD, depression, and other mental health problems.

In 鈥�,鈥� Fr. Olayo-Me虂ndez and his co-authors call for 鈥渁 comprehensive response鈥� to the crisis, including changes in U.S. and Mexican polices regarding migrants and asylum seekers and coordinated health care efforts involving both governmental and non-governmental actors.

鈥淭he full extent of the health crisis at the border has yet to be documented,鈥� states the report, 鈥渂ut it is clear that it is growing. As such, sustainable solutions are needed now more than ever.鈥�

Fr. Olayo-M茅ndez鈥檚 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. Its findings are based on data collected by international NGOs, reporters, and service providers, and augmented with testimonials鈥攊ncluding some collected by Fr. Olayo-M茅ndez last year鈥攆rom individuals on the Mexican border.

鈥淭he report is an effort to show the situation from different angles, and through different voices, as a humanitarian crisis rather than a 鈥榮ecurity crisis,鈥欌�� said Fr. Olayo-Me虂ndez, who has studied the intersection of humanitarian aid and migration, as well as questions regarding human rights, inequality, transit migration, meso-level structures, and the so-called 鈥淢igration Industry.鈥澨� 鈥淲e wanted to stress the public health conditions, and especially the mental health implications for migrants, who have already endured so much to reach the border.

鈥淭here is an important role for the social work profession here, 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.鈥�

“The more evidence we present, the more light we throw on the situation and, our hope is, the more voices will join together to demand a change . . . Above all, 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.”
BCSSW Assistant Professor Alejandro Olayo-Me虂ndez, S.J.


The health crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border has been building for the past two years, according to Fr. Olayo-M茅ndez and his co-authors, in the wake of policy changes and practices enacted or encouraged by the Trump administration that affect migrants鈥� ability to seek asylum鈥攁 right guaranteed under U.S. law. One is 鈥渕etering,鈥� 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. Another is the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, where asylum seekers who have already been received and inspected by the U.S. government must wait in Mexico for their legal proceedings.

The result has been a logjam at entry points along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to 鈥淎 Population in Peril.鈥� Since January of 2019, under the MPP, the U.S. government has sent more than 64,000 individuals to Mexico to await legal proceedings; of these, 537 have been granted leave to stay in the U.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. For now, during this time, asylum seekers have to wait in Mexico.

Meanwhile, the report notes, where in past years the typical U.S.-bound migrant was most likely to be a single adult, it is now persons in family units or unaccompanied minors who form the majority: The 6