An Arizona county located along a well-traversed region of the southern border is expected to renew a $30,000 plan to provide water to migrants heading to the United States.
On June 4, the Pima County Board of Supervisors is set to vote to extend an existing contract with Humane Borders, a nonprofit in Tucson, to further provide migrants enduring treacherous conditions in the desert with water stations that could prevent dehydration and death.
Mark Evans, a spokesperson for Pima County, told Newsweek via email Tuesday that the board of supervisors had voted on and approved the Humane Borders contract every May or June since 2001.
In April, John Modlin, the chief patrol agent of the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, warned that hot spring and summer seasons coupled with a lack of immigration reform could result in an "unprecedented amounts of death in the desert" this year.
Newsweek has contacted officials in Pima County and Humane Borders for comment via email.
The current contract recognizes the "financial consequences" of migrant deaths on local Pima resources, with board members saying the deal with Humane Borders helps "reduce the costs related to the provision of healthcare, law enforcement, coroner services and burial services caused by dehydration and exposure."
"I was there Monday, Sunday and Monday," Dora Rodriguez, a board member of Humane Borders, told KOLD, a CBS affiliate in Tucson. "The numbers have dropped to like a hundred people a day."
Rodriguez added: "We are going to continue to see more death in our deserts. That's why we have to make sure there is water everywhere we can because that water is lifesaving."
Humane Borders began in 2000 as a humanitarian organization, working for almost 25 years to provide and maintain a series of water stations available to migrants traveling through the Sonoran Desert.
The stations are large, including one or more industrial-strength plastic barrels fitted with spigots. The drums, which hold 55 gallons each, are kept off the earth's surface and replenished when necessary.
"We visually examine the water, test it for particulates, and taste the water on each run," Humane Borders said on its website. "Our barrels are replaced and refilled regularly with clean, fresh drinking water. Barrels need to be swapped out more often during the summer months to prevent buildup of algae."
The organization also experiments with remote monitoring of water levels and ways to shade and insulate barrels in triple-digit temperatures to keep the water cool and palatable to drink.
Water reaches each station via trucks carrying mounted 200- and 300-gallon water tanks. To catch migrants' attention, the stations are marked with blue flags on 30-foot poles, with some barrels and flags equipped with small solar cells for nighttime visibility.
For years, the organization has worked with the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office to map migrant deaths, a project that pinpoints where migrants' remains are found after they cross Arizona's border with Mexico, which spans about 400 miles. More than 1,549 migrants remain unidentified as of February 2024, the organization said.
A 2021 report of migrant deaths between 1990 and 2020, compiled by the University of Arizona's Binational Migration Institute in collaboration with the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office, said the remains of at least 3,356 border crossers were recovered in southern Arizona, with most being found after 2005.
Greg Hess, the chief medical examiner for Pima County, told Cronkite News in September that migrant deaths were "directly proportional to sustained heat." In July, 42 migrants were found deceased in the Arizona desert, the outlet reported.
Earlier this year, the Tucson Sector was the busiest for migrant crossings among all border sectors. But pressure has somewhat alleviated, falling more than 6 percent from March to April, the fourth-lowest month of crossings during the Biden administration, the Associated Press reported.
San Diego County is experiencing more crossings than the Tucson Sector, with the Los Angeles Times reporting about 37,370 migrant crossings there in April.
Arizona Republicans are promoting legislation that could be on the state's ballot in November. The proposal—which mimics legislation in other states, such as Texas—would provide law enforcement with more legal authority.
The legislation proposes making crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border outside ports of entry a crime; misdemeanors for individuals who present false documentation for job applications or state benefits; and harsher criminal charges for those who sell fentanyl that results in death.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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