Closed mind to blame for migrant death

At least 46 migrants were found dead inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday, in a case of believed human smuggling along the United States-Mexico border. Sixteen others have been sent to hospital, while the police are looking for more people in the nearby forest. The police believe there were 100 people, half of whom might have died.

There are so many migrant deaths in the US that it is hard to recall all similar cases. The condition of migrants who make it to the US is no better, as some of them ultimately end up in detention centers where there is hardly enough food or water. And the few who get jobs in restaurants are at the bottom of society, with little chance of moving upward. And yet the US passes itself off as a “beacon of human rights”.

There might be an American Dream, but that dream belongs to only the privileged. The nation formed by immigrants, which once opened its doors to the whole world, has turned increasingly selfish and now adopts a hostile approach to people from other countries. It has exited one global organization after another, quarreled with other nations for minor interests, and bullied other countries with its superior technological and economic forces.

Some might argue that it was the earlier Republican government that pulled the US out of some organizations, but the Democratic successor has been no less close-minded.

Besides, a deeply divided US society continues to target different groups, while stigmatizing people of color. Browsing through social networking sites in the US one will find many hate speeches made against people of color.

The US owes its prosperity to its once open-minded policies, but an open, inclusive US is now a thing of the past. What the world sees today is a selfish, close-minded country and such attributes will ultimately deal a heavy blow to the US. — ZHANG ZHOUXIANG, CHINA DAILY