Study Finds Even in Death, Indigenous Borderland Crossers Are Marginalized Cris E. Hughes - Phys.org
go to original May 3, 2017

A group called Aguilas del Desierto, or Eagles of the Desert, aims to help give families closure – and rescue migrants they can find alive. (KPBS News)

Of the hundreds of people who die trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico each year, those with indigenous backgrounds are less likely to be identified than those with more European ancestry, a new analysis reveals.

The research, reported in the journal American Anthropologist, focused on DNA from individuals found dead in the Arizona desert and transported to the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner in Tucson, where efforts are made to identify the individuals and return them to living relatives.

The researchers looked at highly variable regions of DNA, called short tandem repeats, that are traditionally used in forensics to identify individuals, "much like a fingerprint," said University of Illinois anthropology professor Cris Hughes, who led the new analysis.



Such DNA technologies have not always been available, but PCOME forensic anthropologists, including Bruce Anderson, a co-author on the new study, have kept samples of bones from unidentified bodies found on the border since the 1970s, making it possible for researchers to return to those cases while also working on newer ones.

The team used the DNA to analyze the ancestry of migrants who had died along the border, comparing those who had been identified with those who had not. That analysis revealed that people with more European ancestry were more likely to be identified than those with indigenous roots.

...Once DNA is obtained from a body, matching it to a family requires that family to interact with authorities and offer up samples of their own DNA. This is where disparities begin to emerge between people from northern and southern Mexico, the researchers found.

Read the rest at Phys.org

Related: Two Honduran Cousins Determined Despite Dangers to Migrate to US (Latin American Herald Tribune)

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