Thread: Border Patrol, migrant aid groups brace for desert heat

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/14700.php

Published: 06.03.2006
Border Patrol, migrant aid groups brace for desert heat
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen
The U.S. Border Patrol and migrant aid groups are bracing for the first weekend of extreme heat, with temperatures expected to reach 110 degrees in the desert west of Tucson.

"Agents are on a heightened sense of awareness," said Border Patrol spokesman Gus Soto. "We've already had several rescues."

Over the last two weeks, the Border Patrol has rescued 88 illegal immigrants, 40 percent of the agency's total rescues since the start of the fiscal year on October 1. The agency has recorded 85 deaths in the same period.

Humane Borders founder Robin Hoover said the organization has been refilling its water stations on a daily basis since May 1. Water usage peaks during June and July, when volunteers refill up to 1,500 gallons of water a
week.

"We hope to remove a lot of misery and save lives," Hoover said. "We hope that we're useful."

The group has about 80 water stations in the desert this year, about 10 more than last year. Many of the new stations are in Mexico, Hoover said.

A group of teenagers from a Santa Fe, N.M., church, will help fill the tanks Sunday. Humane Borders expects more than 1,000 volunteers from around the country over the course of the summer.

Earlier this week in Nogales, the Border Patrol launched a campaign including agency-penned corridos - narrative songs or ballads - warning migrants about the dangers of crossing the border illegally, whether on foot or in a vehicle.

During the event, the Nogales Fire Department measured the temperature inside the trailer of a commercial truck, similar to the one in which the Border Patrol found 91 illegal immigrants two weeks ago, at 140 degrees in the sun.

"We hope to remove a lot of misery and save lives," Hoover said. "We hope that we're useful."

If you really want to be useful.......keep illegals out of the desert.