PRESS KIT THE MEANING OF COLIBRÍ The word colibrí means hummingbird in Spanish. The colibrí is a migratory bird unique to the Americas and can be found each year migrating the thousands of miles from the U.S., to the northern deserts of Mexico, to Central America and back again.
In 2009, the remains of a man who died crossing the U.S.-­‐Mexico border were recovered from the desert near Tucson, Arizona. This man carried one item unique beyond all others—in his pocket rested a small deceased hummingbird. In many indigenous cultures of Latin America, the hummingbird is a symbol of safe passage and a special messenger between the living and the dead. The Colibrí Center for Human Rights is named for this man, and the thousands of others who have died or disappeared crossing the U.S.-­‐Mexico border. In over a decade of data collection on unidentified remains, this is the only hummingbird ever found among the dead. DESCRIPTION The Colibrí Center for Human Rights owns the most comprehensive data about missing border crossers and unidentified remains found on the US-­‐Mexico border. This large data set allows us to successfully match families searching for loved ones with unidentified remains. EARLY HISTORY The Colibrí Center for Human Rights was originally established as the Missing Migrant Project through the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner. Representing nearly a decade of work collecting missing persons reports and cataloguing remains, Robin Reineke furthers cutting edge research in both Cultural and Forensic Anthropology. Robin, a PhD candidate at the University of Arizona’s School of Anthropology, leads the conversation on best practices to manage the collection of information, collaborate with border-­‐wide stakeholders, and report results to policy makers and direct service providers along the border. By combining forensic and humanistic data, Robin has achieved unparalleled success in identifying remains and bringing the necessary attention to migrant deaths on the border. RECENT SUCCESSES Through the generous support of the Ford Foundation, Robin has built a founding team to establish the Colibrí Center for Human Rights. This team continues to standardize the collection of missing persons’ reports and unidentified remains, build a second-­‐phase database for managing and reporting this information, and serve as advocates to the public, providing critical information about migrant death. In conjunction with our partners at the critically acclaimed, ground-­‐breaking documentary Who is Dayani Cristal?, the Colibrí Center for Human Rights hopes to bring more attention to the human rights crisis occurring on the US-­‐Mexico border. SELECT TEAM BIOS ROBIN REINEKE – CO-­‐FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Robin Reineke is a doctoral candidate in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. Her dissertation, “Naming the Dead: Identification and Ambiguity along the U.S.-­‐Mexico Border,” centers on the institutional and family efforts to identify the bodies of deceased migrants along the Arizona-­‐Sonora The Colibrí Center for Human Rights. 3849 E. Broadway Blvd. #206 Tucson, Arizona 85716 www.colibricenter.org Copyright © 2015. Colibrí Center for Human Rights. All rights reserved. portion of the U.S.-­‐Mexico border. For the past eight years she has worked with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, where she co-­‐founded the Missing Migrant Project in 2006. The project seeks to collect all missing persons reports relevant to the U.S.-­‐Mexico border and to compare them to unidentified remains believed to be migrants. Her ethnographic research includes interviews and participant observation with forensic scientists and families of missing and deceased migrants in Mexico, Guatemala, and various parts of the U.S. She works with international partners like the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, the Bi-­‐National Migration Institute, and various foreign consulates to develop systems to identify deceased migrants transnationally. Degrees: In progress: Ph.D., Cultural Anthropology, University of Arizona PhD Dissertation: Naming the Dead: Identification and Ambiguity along the U.S.-­‐Mexico Border 2009 -­‐ MA, Cultural Anthropology, University of Arizona MA Thesis: Borderlands of Loss: The Missing of the U.S.-­‐Mexico Border 2004 -­‐ BA, Cultural Anthropology, Bryn Mawr College Research Interests: Science and Technology Studies, Forensic Anthropology, Human Rights, Immigration, Death and the Dead Body, Race and Categorization, Modern Material Culture Selected Publications: Will Immigration Reform Mean More Deaths on the Border? Arizona: Naming the Dead from the Desert A Continued Humanitarian Crisis at the Border: Undocumented Border Crosser Deaths Recorded by the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, 1990 -­‐ 2012 WILLIAM MASSON – CO-­‐FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS William Masson brings over a decade of experience in both startups and nonprofit management. As the Director of Operations, William is responsible for developing plans, marshaling resources, and monitoring progress toward meeting the company’s performance goals. William has extensive experience as a product development specialist for small and emerging technology companies. He began his career leading business intelligence efforts as the Director of Evaluation and Accountability for the Higher Achievement Program in Washington, DC. He then progressed to technology strategy, serving as a Strategic Consultant/Project Manager with NPower Greater DC. William led the development and implementation of the first enterprise-­‐
level mobile application at the University of Arizona and the first ever implementation of EV1 contactless chip technology on a university campus. He earned bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Latin American Studies from Oberlin College and an MBA from the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship in the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. FACT SHEET All existing estimates on the number of dead are incomplete and only account for those bodies that have been found and recovered from the U.S. side of the border. From the data that is known, it appears that such deaths are on the rise. In fiscal year 2012, Border Patrol reported finding the remains of 463 migrants, over The Colibrí Center for Human Rights. 3849 E. Broadway Blvd. #206 Tucson, Arizona 85716 www.colibricenter.org Copyright © 2015. Colibrí Center for Human Rights. All rights reserved. 100 more than in 2011 and the highest number on record since 2005[1]. Between 2001 and 2013, at least 2,202 migrants have died attempting to cross into Arizona alone. While there was no statistically significant change in the number of recovered migrant remains in Arizona during 2012 and 2013, it is evident that migrant deaths are on the rise in Texas. In the Rio Grande Valley of Texas migrant deaths more than doubled as compared to fiscal year 2011. Border-­‐wide, U.S. Border Patrol has recorded 6,029 deaths of assumed migrants between 1998 and 2012. Deaths of migrants are increasing at a time when apprehensions of migrants—and thus most likely the total number of migrants—are dropping. This means that their passage is getting deadlier. Many of these recovered remains, which now number in the thousands, are unidentified. Local officials in Brooks County, Texas, estimate that the costs of dealing with the unidentified dead, including mortician fees and autopsies, amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year [2].There is currently no uniform procedure to investigate the deaths of migrants, and practices vary from county to county. Many remains have not had their DNA sampled, and there is no comprehensive DNA database to match the DNA of unidentified migrant remains with family members searching for missing loved ones. Migrants’ lives could be saved with a few inexpensive adjustments in water availability, rescue beacons, and search-­‐and-­‐rescue capability. Family members of missing migrants would also get answers about the whereabouts of their loved ones through increased efforts to identify the dead and find the missing. For the full fact sheet, please visit our website at http://www.colibricenter.org. 1
“A Continued Humanitarian Crisis at the Border: Undocumented Border Crosser Deaths Recorded by the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, 1990-­‐2012”, (The Binational Migration Institute, June 2013) http://bmi.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/border_deaths_final_web.pdf 2
“Death toll of illegal immigrants soars in South Texas,” The Fort Worth Star-­‐Telegram (Fort Worth, TX: January 1, 2013). The Colibrí Center for Human Rights. 3849 E. Broadway Blvd. #206 Tucson, Arizona 85716 www.colibricenter.org Copyright © 2015. Colibrí Center for Human Rights. All rights reserved. SELECT PAST PRESS Marguerite-­‐Casey Foundation – Equal Voice for Families News, “In Border Disaster, Advocates Seek Names of the Dead.” Amy Roe. Nov. 10, 2014. http://www.equalvoiceforfamilies.org/in-­‐border-­‐disaster-­‐
advocates-­‐seek-­‐names-­‐of-­‐the-­‐dead/ Washington Post, “Letelier-­‐Moffitt Human Rights Awards go to border activists, lawyer, Latina organizers.” Pamela Constable. Oct. 14, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/humanizing-­‐those-­‐who-­‐die-­‐
on-­‐the-­‐borderrights-­‐awards-­‐honor-­‐lawyer-­‐activists/2014/10/14/96f13aaa-­‐53b8-­‐11e4-­‐892e-­‐
602188e70e9c_story.html Human Rights Watch, “TORN APART: Families and US Immigration Reform.” Jul. 17, 2014. http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/US_2014_Torn_Apart.pdf CultureStr/ke, “Bodies of Evidence.” Michelle Chen. Jun. 10, 2014. http://culturestrike.net/bodies-­‐of-­‐
evidence Financial Times, “Names and dignity for the desert’s dead.” Emma Jacobs. May 15, 2014. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8b48fbd0-­‐d775-­‐11e3-­‐80e0-­‐00144feabdc0.html LA Times, “New Tucson center aims to ID migrants who die on trek north”, Cindy Carcamo, May 4, 2014. http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-­‐na-­‐nn-­‐ff-­‐arizona-­‐immigration-­‐migrant-­‐database-­‐
20140503-­‐story.html ABC News, “A Most Dangerous Journey: Tracing the Human Cost of Immigration from Altar to Arizona”, Jim Avila, January 3, 2014. http://abcnews.go.com/US/tracing-­‐human-­‐cost-­‐immigration-­‐altar-­‐
arizona/story?id=21406135 Film: Who is Dayani Cristal? http://www.whoisdayanicristal.com/, Directed by Marc Silver, April 2014 NY Times, “Bodies on the Border”, Directed by Marc Silver, August 17, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/opinion/bodies-­‐on-­‐the-­‐border.html?_r=0 Public Radio International’s The World, “Identifying the Migrants Who Die Crossing the US/Mexico Border,”
http://www.pri.org/stories/2013-­‐01-­‐24/identifying-­‐migrants-­‐who-­‐die-­‐crossing-­‐usmexico-­‐border January 24, 2013 BBC News Magazine, “Arizona: Naming the Dead from the Desert”. January 16, 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-­‐21029783 BBC World Service, Outlook Program, “Naming the Dead on the Mexican Border”, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p011ylt4 , December 24, 2012 Los Angeles Times, “Arizona county's grim lost and found”, http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/17/nation/la-­‐na-­‐migrant-­‐possessions-­‐20121017 , October 17, 2012 National Public Radio’s State of the Reunion, “Tucson: Borderlands”, http://stateofthereunion.com/home/season-­‐3/tucson-­‐az , September 17, 2012 The Colibrí Center for Human Rights. 3849 E. Broadway Blvd. #206 Tucson, Arizona 85716 www.colibricenter.org Copyright © 2015. Colibrí Center for Human Rights. All rights reserved. LOGOS, IMAGES, AND PHOTOS PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdJQWmvtmqQ MEDIA CONTACT [email protected] Reyna Araibi Ph: 520.243.8644 Mail: 3849 E. Broadway Blvd, #206 Tucson, AZ 85716 The Colibrí Center for Human Rights. 3849 E. Broadway Blvd. #206 Tucson, Arizona 85716 www.colibricenter.org Copyright © 2015. Colibrí Center for Human Rights. All rights reserved.