NPR Interview: The connections between American guns and the migrant crisis

An interview with Stop US Arms to Mexico Coordinator John Lindsay-Poland.

What role do guns from the United States play in the ongoing crisis of gun violence in Mexico?  Listen Here. 

According to the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, approximately 70 percent of firearms found at crime scenes in Mexico can be traced back to the United States.

In December of last year, about 250,000 people crossed the southern border into the U.S., with the majority coming from Mexico. Survey data from the Kino Border Initiative, a large migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, indicates that violence, rather than economic factors, is the primary driver causing many families to leave Mexico.

Understanding the violence in Mexico is crucial to understanding the migrant crisis. Additionally, efforts are being made to stem the flow of guns into Mexico.

Ieva Jusionyte, an anthropologist and former paramedic, author of “Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence across the Border,” discusses this issue alongside Angela Kocherga of KTEP in El Paso and John Lindsay-Poland of Stop US Arms to Mexico.