Study: US-made weapons might be driving migrants to the southern border
As undocumented immigrants show up at the southern border, many may be fleeing gun violence perpetrated with weapons that originally came from the United States. New research shows that nearly half coming across the border had previously been threatened by guns, while earlier research shows that the vast majority of guns in some of those countries originated here.
A report by researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Colorado published in the October issue of the peer-reviewed journal Injury Prevention sought to gain some insights into the role the U.S. gun trade might be playing in migrants’ decisions to make the hazardous journey to the southern border.
“Policy-makers have argued that U.S. firearms are fueling violence in these countries and are contributing to migration,” their report said. “The objective of this article is to examine the proportion of immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean arriving at the U.S. border who have previously been threatened with a firearm.”
It seems a no-brainer that while many are coming to the United States seeking economic opportunity or reunite with family, many are fleeing violence in their home countries. Indeed, a 2015 survey of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador by Doctors Without Borders found that “of those interviewed, almost 40 percent (39.2 percent) mentioned direct attacks or threats to themselves or their families, extortion or gang-forced recruitment as the main reason for fleeing their countries.”
It’s also known that a huge portion of guns used in such violence originated here. For example, data from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms indicate that of the 21,000 firearms recovered in Mexico between 2016 and 2022, nearly 70 percent had either been made or imported into the United States.
What the most recent report adds is insight into how many migrants reported being personally threatened by guns. To do that, they interviewed 312 people seeking asylum between March 2022 and August 2023 at a shelter in McAllen, Texas.
Nearly half (47.7 percent) reported having been threatened with a firearm. That’s more than double the 21 percent of Americans who reported having been so threatened.
The actual percentage of asylum seekers who have had guns pointed at them is likely higher because nearly 80 percent of respondents to the survey were women, while 66 percent of the men who participated said they had been threatened in that way. That compares to 39 percent of women respondents.
The researchers recommended that immigration officials consider the circumstances of immigrants’ gun threats and their effects as they make policy.
“While victims of firearm-related threats reported in this study were likely robbed, extorted or kidnapped, our study highlights other reasons that are under-discussed,” the report said. “For example, people are often threatened not to report a crime or are intimidated by authorities. In this regard, federal agencies monitoring the flow of migration in the U.S.A. should consider these experiences. In particular, those immigrating have elevated rates of firearm violence exposure and also have evidence of mental health symptoms (PTSD) associated with those exposures. Training on identifying these traumas and providing resources to guide people in seeking proper help at entry points is important.”
Marty Schladen has been a reporter for decades, working in Indiana, Texas and other places before returning to his native Ohio to work at The Columbus Dispatch in 2017. He's won state and national journalism awards for investigations into utility regulation, public corruption, the environment, prescription drug spending and other matters.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.