Group hopes life-giving water will decrease desert deaths
Wednesday, 14 September 2011 22:11
Tightened security along the U.S.-Mexico Border is forcing illegal immigrants to travel to more isolated and dangerous parts of the desert. Now activist groups and U.S. Border Patrol are working to ensure these new trails don't result in the deaths of more travelers.
The terrain in the desert is only one of many dangerous aspects of the trip across the border.
"The dangers are innumberable," said Adam Aguirre, a volunteer with No More Deaths, an organization aimed at preventing as many deaths as possible along the border. "There's also over-exhaustion, heat exhaustion, hypothermia and flooding that can happen in minutes out in the areas they are traveling."
In their trip across the border, people only bring what they can carry on their back, making it nearly impossible to bring enough supplies and water for their journey through the desert. Often they will run out of water and have to make do with what they can find.
"A lot of the land along the border is leased to cattle ranchers, so there will be these cattle troughs that they'll get their water from," said Aguirre. "But that water isn't for human consumption. It's brown and has feces and grass in it. So when they drink that it leads to a whole new set of problems."
Drinking water from the cattle troughs will often lead to sickness like diarrhea, which in turn can lead to extreme dehydration.
In order to combat this problem, an organization called Humane Borders sets up and maintains over 35 water stations with one or more 65-gallon barrels of water at each station. The barrels are light blue with the word "Agua," which is Spanish for water, labeled on the side. Each station is marked with a blue flag about 30 feet high so they can be spotted from a distance.
"Just the other day we got a report about a death of an immigrant in a remote location," said Juanita Molina, executive director for Humane Borders. "So at our meeting [Wednesday] we'll discuss how we'll approach setting up new stations where the immigrants are now going through."
Humane Borders coordinates with the Pima County Medical Examiner to create maps of where deaths occur in the desert, allowing them to strategically set up water stations where they can be most helpful.
Along with the activist groups, Border Patrol is doing what they can to ensure the well-being of those who make the trek across the desert.
"It's really the smugglers who are doing the most damage," said Steven Passement, a media liaison for Border Patrol. "They're the ones leading these people into extremely remote areas and abandoning them whenever they feel threatened. When we come across a group that's been abandoned we'll evaluate them medically then take them either to the hospital or into custody."
The issue of immigration is ongoing and those who choose to make the journey continue to face all the dangers of crossing a desert without the right amount of supplies or equipment.
"We set up mobile medical camps that people wander into sometimes," said Aguirre. "It's up to them if they want us to call Border Patrol or if they want to go on. We just make sure that they're getting the medical attention that they need."
Written by Matt Lechuga You are reading Group hopes life-giving water will decrease desert deaths articles
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