A coalition of forensic scientists and human rights organizations at a Friday hearing at the University of Colorado asked U.S. officials to cooperate with them in identifying the remains of migrants who died along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The emotional hearing was one of dozens in a session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which for the first time held a week of hearings in the U.S. outside of Washington, D.C. The commission selected the Colorado Law School to host the hearings after a formal invitation from the school’s dean, S. James Anaya.
Representatives of the Forensic Border Coalition in the hearing at CU’s Wolf Law building said they’ve collected more than 4,000 genetic samples from relatives that correspond with more than 1,500 cases of people who likely went missing along the border, and they would like the FBI to aid in a large-scale DNA comparison to make matches and provide closure for families. They said federal bureaucracy was impeding that.
“We’re here today because after six years of participating in meetings with U.S. officials to find ways to conduct this genetic comparison, the exchange has not taken place and we have not found cooperation from U.S. officials,” coalition representative Mercedes Doretti said.
Yesenua Mehia Reyes spoke during the hearing and said her only daughter disappeared in Texas, on her way to seeking a better future for the family.
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