The Baltimore Bridge disaster and the precarious fate of immigrants in America.

The unfortunate immigrants

All six victims of the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse were immigrants from Mexico and Central America. At the time the container train struck the bridge's support structure at 1:30 a.m. on March 26th, they were on the bridge diligently performing the work that many immigrants undertake. Ultimately, that work led them to the icy waters of the Patapsco River below.

The cargo ship Dali crashed into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key bridge. Photo: Reuters

The following day, the bodies of the two victims, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and Dorlian Castillo, were discovered and pulled from a red pickup truck at a depth of nearly 8 meters underwater.

The remaining four missing workers, presumed dead, include Maynor Suazo from Honduras; Jose Lopez from Guatemala; Miguel Luna from El Salvador; and another whose name has not been revealed. Additionally, two other workers have been rescued.

Churches held prayer services for the missing workers, and advocacy groups quickly raised $98,000 for the victims' families. Some were unsurprised that all the victims were immigrants, even though they make up less than 10% of the population in Maryland's largest city.

The victims were maintenance workers employed by Brawner Builders, a local construction company that has been fined seven times since 2018 for safety violations. Company leaders said they were deeply saddened by the loss.

Do the jobs nobody wants to do.

According to Lucia Islas, president of the non-profit group Comité Latino de Baltimore, one of the reasons immigrants became victims of the accident was because they were doing work that no one else wanted to do. They were maintenance workers, a less prestigious profession but one that involved hard work throughout the night to keep the country running.

Jobs for immigrants often have the lowest wages and the worst conditions. Yet, some still accept these jobs to support their families and lay the foundation for a better life for their children and grandchildren.

Meanwhile, others try to work to send money home to relatives living in less affluent economies . According to Mexico's central bank, Mexican migrant workers sent more than $60 billion back to their home countries in 2023.

Migrant workers often find employment in high-risk sectors such as construction. Photo: Spencer Platt

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Latino workers are more likely to die at work than other racial and ethnic groups. Accordingly, Latinos are at a high rate in high-risk jobs: 51% of construction workers, 34% of slaughterhouse workers, and 61% of landscaping workers.

Community leaders say many Latinos in the city take low-paying jobs with few benefits. Carlos Crespo, 53, a mechanic from Mexico, said, "The only option is to go to work, even if it's not the kind of pay a citizen could earn."

Immigration will be a central issue in the 2024 US presidential election.

The Baltimore Bridge disaster occurred in the midst of the US presidential election, where immigration was once again a top concern for voters. The administration of Democratic President Joe Biden was struggling to manage the recent record number of border crossings.

Meanwhile, Republican candidate Donald Trump has also frequently sought to restrict immigration. "Other countries are clearing out prisons, mental institutions, psychiatric hospitals, getting everyone out, including a bunch of terrorists, out of our country. Now they're in our country," Trump said at a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, in January of this year.

Furthermore, Trump has declared he will significantly increase deportations of immigrants if he is re-elected on November 5th. While Trump's criticisms are primarily aimed at immigrants attempting to cross the border illegally into the US, they also affect immigrants in general.

Mechanic Crespo expressed: "Many people don't respect our Latino community. They treat us like animals or think we live off the government. But that's not true; we have to pay taxes too."

The sacrifice of those who went missing deserves to be remembered as anti-immigrant sentiment resurfaces ahead of the US presidential election in November. And as the Francis Scott Key Bridge is being rebuilt, it is certain that immigrants will be directly involved in the construction.

Hoai Phuong (according to CNN, Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tham-hoa-cau-baltimore-va-so-phan-mong-manh-cua-nguoi-nhap-cu-o-my-post289654.html