En español

Border walls put immigrants' lives at risk, routing them deep into the arid deserts of Arizona where water is limited and a fragile ecosystem lives in a delicate balance.

Ten years ago, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) began building fences and vehicle blockades along the US - Mexico border.1 This massive buildup near urban areas did not reduce immigration,2 it only put immigrants' lives at risk, routing them deep into the arid deserts of Arizona where water is limited and a fragile ecosystem lives in a delicate balance.

In 2002, when the Bush administration proposed sealing most of the Arizona border with double 15-foot fences that would enclose two highways illuminated with stadium lights - human rights, indigenous, and environmental groups formed an unusual coalition to protect people and the environment.3

"The walls are so awful. On a human level, there is something very traumatic about the way they divide people, divide families. People can't get through. Animals can't get through. They are a symbol of division and failed policies," says Kat Rodríguez of the community organization, Derechos Humanos, a founding organization, along with Defenders of Wildlife and Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras, of the Coalition to Bring Down the Walls.

The coalition was able to defeat the wall which would have been built as a whole, but the Border Patrol has continued to build it piece by piece. Meanwhile, in the summer of 2003, there were at least 150 known deaths on the Arizona-Sonora border.4

As the number of blockades and fences grows, immigrants have been forced deeper into the often deadly Sonoran Desert. As a result, the Border Patrol asked for an increase in access to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 95 percent of which is designated Wilderness area, where road building is prohibited.5 The Border Patrol wants to establish four new roads and allow unlimited use of off-road vehicles throughout the monument and designated Wilderness area.

It's this very area that is significant for threatened and endangered species like the critically endangered Sonoran pronghorn. Because of habitat degradation and fragmentation, this species is on the brink of extinction in the United States - fewer than 25 animals remain.6 Fences, roads, and lights will cut off and isolate the northern portion of the desert and mean a loss of diversity in plants and animals over time.7

The Coalition is calling on the federal government to look at the root causes of immigration - US agricultural policy, trade agreements, working conditions, and other reasons that people migrate. But, more immediately the Border Patrol's efforts to patch a sieve are putting migrants' lives at risk. The current system of blockades and fences is not working. The Sonoran Desert is suffering, but most especially, so are the people trying to cross it.

"I hope people will stand with us and demand some kind of solution that will give us more than it costs," says Kat. "The current costs are extremely high. The number of deaths continues to increase yearly. These are people and they are victims of our border policies."

For more information contact:

Sierra Club
Keith Bagwell
akbagwell@hotmail.com

Coalición de Derechos Humanos/Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras
Kat Rodríguez
520.770.1373
kat@derechoshumanosaz.net
www.derechoshumanosaz.net

Defenders of Wildlife
Jenny Neeley
520.623.9653
jneeley@defenders.org

1. Cooper, Marc, "Delusion and Death on the Border of Hypocrisy," LA Weekly, December 5, 2003.
2. Fimbres, Gabrielle and Carrol, Susan, "Desperate Journey," Tucson Citizen, September 16, 2002.
3. LoMonaco, Claudine, "Halt to Wall Not Seen As Victory," Tucson Citizen, July 2, 2003.
4. Marek, Angie C., "Desert Cat and Mouse," US News and World Report, May 31, 2004.
5. National Parks Conservation Association, available at, http://www.npca.org/explore_the_parks/new_parks/ sonoran.asp.
6. Arizona Game and Fish, available at, http://www.gf.state.az.us/w_c/ research_home_this_range.shtml.
7. Derechos Humanos factsheet, "Walls Impact Border Species," available at, http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/Wall_info/wall_index.htm.