For the last few weeks, the coverage concerning the conditions faced by people arriving to the US Mexico border and those seeking admission into the US in search of protection has painted a harrowing picture of what is taking place. While there has been onslaught of information from multiple sources—which has been accompanied of photographs and narratives so graphic their nature has been questioned and at times flatly condemned—it has consistently lacked context and structure. This has undermined any potential efforts to make sense of the humanitarian crisis afflicting the people and the region. To this day the general public lacks a comprehensive, informed and critical notion of what is happening on the border, or of why understanding what is happening there matters, while the experiences of migrants –and migrants themselves –  become increasingly dehumanized amid the border spectacle.

This contribution joins those made by many other scholars and policy makers seeking to situate some of the claims that have been circulated online concerning the current situation on the US Mexico border. Granted, it only includes a few of said claims, yet seeks to bring attention to dynamics that remain unexamined or that have only been discussed in passing, silenced by the  dramatic images and stories dominating the social media landscape.

What is the claim? What is happening?

This is a part of a blog post by Gabriella Sanchez.