Migration in Arizona: Water Tanks and White Crosses

Before the US midterm elections, the Republicans are also making the mood with the issue of migration. In the state of Arizona there are always deaths at the border fence. The residents see differently what should follow from this for politics.

They look frightened, exhausted and dusty: a young couple crouches on the ground, illuminated by the headlights of the big border police trucks. An officer takes personal details. The employees of an aid organization called “Samaritan”, who are watching the scene from across the street, are not allowed to ask where the couple comes from and where they want to go.

Meanwhile, a search helicopter circles over the Arizona desert, illuminating boulders and cacti in search of more escapees. Every day more than 7,000 people arrive at the border fence between Mexico and the US state and try to cross it.

For those who do, dehydration is the biggest problem, Barry Gosling explains. The 72-year-old helper from the “Samaritans” regularly tows water containers into the desert. Because during the day it can get hotter than 40 degrees Celsius in the Arizona border area. That is why most of the refugees move at dusk and at night.

But then the wild animals are also on the move: mountain lions, coyotes, rabid raccoons and snakes. The “Samaritans” therefore distribute water where migrants often pass and patrol the area. Michael Hyatt has been a volunteer for exactly 20 years. Since that time, the number of desperate people coming through the desert has been constantly increasing.

Hyatt says it wants to help make a difference. That’s why he documents everything with his camera: the people, the equipment left behind and, in the worst case: the corpses. The 76-year-old says he served in the Navy in Vietnam and was used to horrific images.

The end of dreams

So far this year, 226 people have not made it to this section of the border near the town of Sasebe. Wherever bodies are found, the aid organizations put up crosses. They call it the end of dreams – when another hope for a better life in the United States is buried in the desert.

The more than nine meter high border fence between Arizona and Mexico towers rusty into the sky. The previous President Donald Trump alone spent 18 billion dollars on his ambitions to extend the border fence. Just under 84 kilometers were completed during his tenure. There are still gaps at regular intervals – actually so that wild animals and watercourses are not obstructed. But they should be closed now.

That’s a good thing, thinks Sheriff John Lamb, who embodies his position in Florence with every fiber: the 50-year-old wears a cowboy hat and his sheriff’s star casually on his belt. Like most sheriffs in the area, he’s a proud Republican. He was a guest in the White House twelve times when Donald Trump was President. He says he hasn’t heard from the government since Joe Biden took office there. You have almost forgotten those who enforce the law on the ground.

Gangs exploit migrants

Trump was not the only one who pushed for the building of the wall. Under George W. Bush and Barack Obama there was also diligent construction on the border: more than 1,000 of the 31,245-kilometer border line are now blocked.

That’s not good enough for Sheriff Lamb. He thinks the wall needs to be built quickly. In the United States, the sheriff’s post is elected every four years. That’s why Lamb can take a clear position. Of course he doesn’t want people to die at the border or in the desert either. But he also wants to prevent “illegals, criminals and terrorists” from entering the country undetected, he says.

Since Biden and the Democrats have ruled in Washington, attempts to cross the border have increased by 250 percent, the sheriff says. He’s in charge of 650 deputy sheriffs and officers – and the prison. 365 of the 1100 places are currently occupied.

The sheriff is particularly concerned about gang crime: Mexican drug cartels that abuse refugees to transport their goods across the border. Of course you have to help the refugees, that’s what humanity demands. But each of the helpers must also be aware that they are supporting the cartels, says Lamb.

Crosses for the dead

In order to draw media attention to the dramatic situation at the border, the two Republican governors of Arizona and Texas regularly send large coaches with refugees to the liberal cities on the east coast: to Chicago, Washington or New York. The mayor has even declared a state of emergency there because so many people are arriving in the city.

The Republicans dominate the election campaign with the issues of illegal migration and crime – campaigns to scare people have promised success in the past. The topic is highly polarizing: the Democrats are trying to promote a humane America and are calling for migration reform. The Republicans also want this, but they are relying on isolation.

“Who’s going to do all our dirty jobs then?” asks Robert Victor in the town of Douglas, further south in Arizona, alluding to the high number of migrants in poorly paid and unpopular jobs in the United States. But that’s not all he cares about.

Victor, who describes himself as a conservative, meets with many of his fellow campaigners every Tuesday for a vigil at the border crossing to Mexico. While annoyed drivers queue up in three lanes in front of the border crossing, the members lay down white crosses along the road. Each bears the name of a person found dead in the desert and all the information that could be found about them. This year, 14 new crosses have already been added in Douglas alone.

Among those who put down the crosses, some vote Democrats, some vote Republicans. What unites them is their humanity: They want to remember everyone who didn’t make it into the better life they had dreamed of in the USA – so that they aren’t forgotten.

You can see this report today in the daily topics – at 10.15 p.m. in the first.