Thread: Maps to illegal entry - distribute 70,000 of them

http://azstarnet.com/allheadlines/112929

Entrant map shows roads, water tanks
Group says it can help save lives; critics call it an aid to illegal entry
By Lourdes Medrano
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A Tucson human-rights group has teamed up with Mexico's Human Rights Commission to provide illegal border-crossers with maps that can guide them to water tanks, rescue beacons and roads.
The Rev. Robin Hoover, founder of Humane Borders, and commission officials Tuesday said they plan to distribute the maps to reduce the death toll of migrants, who, unaware of the dangers, trek across a searing desert each summer.
"It's designed to save lives," Hoover said of the effort in a telephone interview after announcing the plan in Mexico City. His organization places the water tanks in the desert for thirsty migrants.
Four maps have been prepared, each one centering on a different migration corridor along the Arizona-Sonora border including Douglas, Nogales, Sasabe and Lukeville. The maps show the locations where deaths have occurred and also show where Humane Borders water stations have been set up and Border Patrol rescue beacons have been installed. The maps also indicate how far would-be illegal entrants can expect to walk in one to three days.
Mauricio Farah, one of the commission's national inspectors, said about 70,000 maps will be distributed throughout Mexico starting in March.
The main objective of the poster-size maps is to warn migrants of the risks associated with crossing the desert, he said by telephone.
"The Arizona corridor has taken many lives," Farah said, adding that about 500 Mexicans died trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border last year. "The map shows migrants that the trip is quite dangerous."
Some 217 illegal entrants died after crossing the border in Southern Arizona between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2005, according to Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman Jose Garza.
Farah emphasized the maps are not intended to promote illegal immigration.
"The reasons and motivations for migration are deep and complex," he said. "They go far beyond the existence of this map."
But some critics say the map, much like a controversial comic-style guide that Mexico distributed last year, will serve only to push more migrants north.
Garza said the map could give border-crossers a false sense of security.
Knowing the location of water, roads and Border Patrol rescue beacons is no guarantee that migrants will find them, or that they will get out of the desert alive, Garza said.
"What we're trying to do is to deter people from crossing in the first place," he said, adding that those who smuggle people into the country through the desert also can misuse the map.
Jim Nixon, who belongs to Tucson's Arizonans for Immigration Control, said he had no doubt the map would encourage more border-crossers to make the trip.
"The map tells them where to go and where not to go," he said. "Humane Borders is aiding and abetting, there's no question in my mind."
Hoover said potential border-crossers from Mexico must be informed of the perils before they make up their minds to leave home.
The map is an improved version of a similar poster that was distributed in Sasabe as part of a pilot project last year, he said. Perhaps the map â€â€

Farah emphasized the maps are not intended to promote illegal immigration.

There are over 50 legal entry points. There are legal ways to enter the US. But distributing 70,000 maps to backroad entry points and posting them on their web site isn't promoting illegal immigrations?

Some 217 illegal entrants died after crossing the border in Southern Arizona between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2005

Sorry they died but what next? Free bus tickets?

If I were to go to Mexico right know and voice my opinion in any way of how corrupted their government is or voice any political opinion of any political matter, I would be thrown in jail immediately without right to counsel. Why are we allowing the mexican government to interfere with american politics in american soil ? Not only that, the mexican government is also going to perform education for illegals in the states ! I had mention this earlier and finally found the news story after they gave me the run around in the local hispanic TV station. I got the article but had to translate it into engish. This is what the article basically says. It says that illegals in the US can now complete their elementary or high school education in a circus !!! You heard right, In a circus !! The Mexican National Institute For Adult Education and Vasquez Brothers circus in cooperation with the Mexican Consulate in Brownsville, Texas approved the accord for the illegal community. The classes will be offered troughout the year at the circus which plans to stay the whole year in the Rio Grande Valley. Barbara Gutierrez ( Brownsville consulte spokeperson) said the reason is to educate mexicans. What really bothers me is that even Cameron County officials signed the agreement. Not only we have to put up with all the previous problems but know we are going to have two very distinct forms of education in America. The USA version and the Mexico version. I think Cameron County officials have just simply lost it

TRAITORS

An emailer to Lou tonight said give them all maps. Make the destination the Bush ranch in Crawford.

An emailer to Lou tonight said give them all maps. Make the destination the Bush ranch in Crawford.

Activists to provide migrants Ariz. maps
Safe routes, stations for water included

Chris Hawley
Republic Mexico City Bureau
Jan. 24, 2006 12:00 AM

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's human rights agency says it will give out detailed maps of the Arizona desert, including rescue beacons and water stations, to guide migrants safely through the most popular and deadliest corridor into the United States.

The maps were designed by a Tucson-based group, Humane Borders, which plans to hold a joint press conference today with the National Human Rights Commission in Mexico City to announce its strategy.

The maps are the latest effort by activists to aid undocumented immigrants as they trek across the border, helping to fuel a raging debate over illegal immigration in Arizona and other parts of the United States.

Two rights commission officials confirmed the quasi-governmental agency had agreed to print and distribute the maps through its state offices to reach Mexican migrants before they ever leave their hometowns. It has not decided how many copies to print or how much it will spend on the project, the officials told The Republic.

They spoke on condition of anonymity pending the official announcement today. Officials in President Vicente Fox's office said Monday that they were unaware of the project and had no immediate comment. The Mexican Foreign Ministry said it would not be involved in distributing the maps.

The plan's proponents say they are trying to prevent deaths, and they deny the maps encourage people to cross.

"This is good information, and it will save lives," said Rev. Robin Hoover, president of Humane Borders.

But border-control advocates say they fear the maps could embolden people to make the trek.

"I'm afraid that maps and water jugs do nothing but give illegal crossers false hope," Arizona Rep. J.D. Hayworth, a Republican, said in a written statement. "Either we convince potential crossers not to make the journey or, failing that, we stop them from crossing the border."

Last year, the Mexican government outraged border-control activists in the United States by publishing a comic book containing safety tips for illegal immigrants. Soon afterward, the southeastern state of Yucatán published its own guide containing detailed information on routes through the desert.

Arizona has become the most traveled corridor for Mexicans trying to enter the United States illegally. Border Patrol agents in Arizona caught more than 577,000 undocumented migrants, most of them Mexicans, during the 2005 fiscal year. At least 279 immigrants attempting to cross the desert died during that time.

Humane Borders has produced maps for each of the four main corridors through Arizona: Douglas, Lukeville, Sasabe and Nogales.

The maps show mountains, roads, railroads and cities. Blue flags show where migrant-aid groups have left water tanks in the desert. Blue stars indicate Border Patrol rescue beacons where migrants can push a button to summon help.

Black lines show how far a migrant can expect to get walking one, two or three days.

The maps use red dots to show where migrants have died during the past four years. Humane Borders used data from the Border Patrol, medical examiners and other agencies to pinpoint each death.

At the top of each map, a bar graph shows the number of deaths during each month of the year. At the bottom are several tips including:

"Go with people you know and trust."

"Don't cross the desert between May and August, because the temperatures are very high."

"Bring enough water and food."

"Know your route well and the distance well before starting."

"Look for tanks of water in the desert that are marked with blue flags."

Large letters say "Don't go! There's not enough water! It's not worth it!"

Future versions of the maps will include circles showing cellular telephone coverage, Hoover said.

In May, Humane Borders distributed a few maps in Sasabe, Sonora, just over the border in Mexico. But the group decided it needed to get the information farther south, to discourage potential migrants before they even leave their hometowns, Hoover said.

The Human Rights Commission pledged its support in December. The agency is technically independent of the Mexican government, but it is funded by Mexican taxpayers and operates under a government charter.

The effort is supported by Pima County, partly as an attempt to help alleviate the expense of dealing with hundreds of corpses found in the desert, said Enrique Serna, a deputy county administrator who accompanied Hoover to Mexico.

Pima County encompasses Tucson and some 115 miles of the Arizona-Mexico border.

Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe, a Republican, said he supports the maps as a way of saving lives. But the best way of keeping migrants from dying in the desert is by helping Mexico create jobs and reforming U.S. laws to better manage migration, he said.

"It's hard to disagree with giving information to your citizens to save their lives," Kolbe said. "Ideally, what I would prefer is that they hand out flyers saying {grave}You don't have to cross the desert because there are jobs in Mexico, and here is some job information.' But that isn't going to happen, because there aren't jobs in Mexico."

Critics of the maps said they don't do enough to emphasize the dangers, or the illegality, of crossing the border.

"If you want to tell people, {grave}Don't go,' then that's an entirely different handout. You don't give people a map," said Rick Oltman, western field director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... rmaps.html

"It's hard to disagree with giving information to your citizens to save their lives," Kolbe said. "Ideally, what I would prefer is that they hand out flyers saying {grave}You don't have to cross the desert because there are jobs in Mexico, and here is some job information.' But that isn't going to happen, because there aren't jobs in Mexico."

I read somewhere here I think that most of those coming from Mexico left jobs there. It's that they can make more money here, working illegally, that's drawing them like bears to honey. Plus the family reunification of course.

The recent Pew survey said only 15 percent of the illegal aliens were unemployed at the time they decided to cross.

I think I saw a copy of the map on the cover of today's "La Voz".

I'm amazed how much Spanish I understand when i read those papers.

The Map didnt look very detailed, besides a few roads. I don't see how this will be terribly useful.

It would be good if it just herded people into the Border Patrol nets.

Hopefully this will open that OBL group to lawsuits of some type. You could have somebody claim their relative used the map to cross and died, then you sue their ass.

pa