There are more than 258 million migrants in the world. A growing proportion of them are migrating by irregular means, secretly crossing borders, scaling fences, or contacting smugglers who ship them across bodies of water, deserts, and conflict zones mostly heading to the US. They risk violence, detention, exploitation, enslavement, and death. They often leave their families and friends behind. Their journeys usually burden them with debt.
When they arrive in the US, those who decide to legally apply for any immigration relief are mostly incarcerated in detention centers or jails/ prisons run by ICE and this is where renewed pain and trauma begins from plus institutional racism depending on location within the USA. Some of these migrants who decide to be illegal and live in USA often live in the shadows, unable to get identification paperwork, legal protections, and other safeguards of legal stay or citizenship. As a result, they often work in low-paying, exploitative jobs and have trouble finding shelter, support networks, and accessing other basic human rights.
“You abandon everything you’ve ever known, and come to a foreign land, only to be subjected to all types of discrimination and violations even when you try it the right way”, says one immigrant at ELOIM Inc offices.
