Border violence is innately tied to relationships between imperialist settler states and indigenous sovereign nations. Women, 2 spirits, and the land lay holding each other, forced into a gruesome apocalyptic horror story that is continually erased by white supremacy. The violence of a border is truly a knife and mural of white supremacy which lays across the womb of our sacred mother, Tāp Tāi. Should we stand and do nothing in the face of such despicable and destitute acts? As we understand land to be Tāi(mother) we can see how there’s a nexus of dark disharmonious energy which perpetuates and resonates within the stories of indigenous women, 2 spirits, and Tāp Tāi(Mother Earth) along the border. This toxic masculinity pushes and forces a subjugation and suffering against native women and non-binary people. It spins a knotted web, waiting and desiring to capture and consume all. The imagery of barren harsh deserts captivated at night by luminous stars singing with winds, intimate and yet distant among each other, truly demonstrates the stories of those forgotten in the desert lands of Mexico and Texas. These forgotten bodies lay held by the only thing to have ever understood them, Tāp Tāi.

Femicide is a newly constructed term to demonstrate a long known truth of women and girls being killed because of their gender. Statistics demonstrate the shocking reality faced by women along the border; 

the combined femicide rate of Mexican border cities is equal to the combined rate of Los Angeles and Houston, while the male homicide rate is 44% higher (http://texascenter.tamiu.edu/PDF/BR/V7/v7-Albuquerque.pdf)

In 2019, the Mexican government registered 1,006 victims of gender-based homicide across the country, with 31 of those in Chihuahua state, where Juárez is located. That is a 137% increase over five years, according to Mexico’s attorney general. Those numbers account only for the women who were found.(https://projects.seattletimes.com/2020/femicide-juarez-mexico-border/)

As we look into the MMIWG movement, and we compare it to what’s happening in Texas and Mexico, it is evident that the femicide occurring in this region is being hidden. Additionally, the numbers of women that are going missing and murdered aren’t completely known because of the secrecy involved with narco trafficking and the deliberate and intentional lack of justice stemming from the U.S. and Mexican law enforcement. Women are understood as accepted casualties in a well funded transnational war on drugs and border security policy. Furthermore, as Mexico is the largest destination for sex tourist from the United States, it also remains one of the largest places for sex trafficking.(“Data and Research on Human Trafficking: A Global Survey” (PDF). International Migration. 43 (1/2): 100–145. 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2017-11-12.). All things considered, the destruction occurring to indigenous 2 spirit and women’s bodies within Texas and Mexico is completely downplayed, unreported, and unrecognized. As the imperial state of America is a nexus and catalyst of settler colonial and totalitarian power, the responsibility and origins for much of this damage stems from its creation of a border and their misguided policies. Humans can only be trafficked across borders because of an ignorant border policy, and drugs are given their value because of archaic prohibition ideologies derived from the state. Essentially, the U.S. is the cause of creation for these criminal organizations, both deliberately and unintentionally. Regarding the deliberate actions of the state, we must remember the cases of those women who were forcibly sterilized and abused while being housed in detention centers. Over forty women have come forth who were abused and received unnecessary procedures (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/22/ice-gynecologist-hysterectomies-georgia). Additionally, many women underwent sterilization without their consent or while placed in coercive situations such as labor pain wherein the doctor refused treatment unless sterilization papers were signed (https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/immigration-detention-and-coerced-sterilization-history-tragically-repeats-itself/). Furthermore, let’s not forget the multiple children who have died while under custody of the United States border patrol (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/why-are-migrant-children-dying-u-s-custody-n1010316). The United States government has a perspective that is deeply ingrained within its policies. This ideology comes from its creation of a government for and by able-bodied, white, land owning, men. It sought liberty not for everyone, but those who have always been the most privileged in our society. As such is the case, it perpetuates oppression and marginalization. It cannot conceive of solutions outside those it innately seeks to benefit and in that system those who are in poverty, not white, and not men will always be exploited and their resources extracted. The work of AITSCM is revolutionary liberation and is inexorably tied to our solidarity and the empowerment and vocalization of those most victimized. Please help and continue to support us as we seek to empower those affected by MMIWGP.