Initially, I thought migrant deaths were unintended consequences. But when I got deeper into the origins of the policy, I discovered that federal documents plainly stated that fatalities were going to increase because of this policy. One document I cite contains a table using migrant deaths as a metric for demonstrating the policy is working. Realizing that some government official was typing this up and recognizing these things, was when I thought: This is a machine that kills people. It isn’t collateral damage. These aren’t unintended consequences. These are direct consequences that, in the initial stages of design, people were thinking about.

Jason De León in interview with Simon Worrall at National Geographic. An Anthropologist Unravels the Mysteries of Mexican Migration Undocumented immigrants risk scorching temperatures, venomous creatures, and military surveillance to get into the U.S.

The Land of Open Graves by Jason De León

(via protoslacker)