Responsibility

MEXICO CITY – The discovery of 72 slain Central and South American migrants on a ranch just south of the U.S. border provides a horrific reminder of the brutality of human trafficking in a country dominated by drug cartels.

Do we (United States of America) bear a responsibility in the death of 72 folks who, according to Associated Press, were making their way toward the Southwest border of the United States and planning to gain illegal entry into this Country?

In an April report, Amnesty International called the plight of tens of thousands of mainly Central American migrants crossing Mexico for the U.S. a major human rights crisis. The report called their journey “one of the most dangerous in the world” and said every year an untold number of migrants disappear without a trace. (Associated Press, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010)

These people are attempting to reach the U. S. border where the expectation is that they will be able to illegally enter this Country and begin their new life here in the land of opportunity. Were they instead confident that they would not be able to enter the Country (without going through the legal immigration process), is it more likely they would not attempt this dangerous, and often deadly, excursion?

Logically then, do we (as Americans who leave our borders porous) not bear some of the responsibility for the carnage reported here with the death of 72 persons, and the untold numbers of others who suffer a like or similar fate?

If we make immigration possible only through a legal process, are we not moving toward lloving our brethren (a clear command from God)?