to cross the great divide

Since 1998, more than 3,000 people are known to have died trying to cross the border. While in 2002 there were 320 documented deaths, last year a total of 472 bodies were recovered. In the past 11 months, in Arizona alone, 124 people have died making the journey. Those deaths include more than a dozen women and children as young as three years old.

the border . . . more and more difficult to
cross . . . more and more women and children

            to be with their husbands

Samaritans

Humane Borders

No More Deaths

the tearful man who has his shirt half-unbuttoned, and a pair of worn leather boots sitting by his side. His feet are covered in oozing blisters and his legs are swollen.

hundreds of underground sensors buried all over the desert. They also use vehicle patrols and unmanned drones to locate their human prey.

pages of a Spanish version of the New Testament flap in the breeze. A bra hangs from an Ocotillo cactus. A few disposable nappies peek out from a torn, black plastic bag.

(omega)    food and water

easy living in the desert

scorpions, tarantulas, rattlesnakes

six people say    You've saved my life.  In your entire life
      if you hear that once

steep hills and dry river beds
sprained ankles or broken bones

then forced to walk back into

(the words lifted entirely in order of appearance from Michael Park's article in the UK Independent (9/03/06), "Mexican immigrants trying to cross the great divide")