At the U.S.–Mexico border, migrants have faced cruel treatment in the form of policies aimed at deterrence, as well as facilities lacking the capacity to treat migrants with dignity if they are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security. In this paper, I use moral responsibility and atrocity crime frameworks to interrogate the responsibility of the individuals and collectives that are either bystanders to, or directly responsible for, the conditions of these migrants. In constructing frameworks for accountability, I argue that we must acknowledge the wrongdoing of past collectives, individuals, and bystanders in order to ensure a sharp change in future policies, and that moral responsibility allows us to do so more effectively.

在美墨边境，移民面临着旨在威慑的政策形式的残酷对待，以及如果移民被国土安全部逮捕，他们缺乏尊严对待移民的能力。在本文中，我使用道德责任和暴行犯罪框架来询问作为旁观者或直接对这些移民状况负责的个人和集体的责任。在构建问责框架时，我认为我们必须承认过去集体、个人和旁观者的错误行为，以确保未来政策发生急剧变化，而道德责任使我们能够更有效地这样做。