Abril 22, 2006

Ground Zero for Immigration

IMG_4236.JPGOne thing I forgot to mention in my blog entry last night about the film "Crossing Arizona" was something ACLU legal observer Ray Ybarra said at the beginning of it: "If you want to understand immigration in this country, come to Arizona."

That underscores what I've been realizing more and more recently. The more I learn about the immigration issue and especially undocumented migrants and dying border crossers, the more I realize that ground zero is right here in southern Arizona. Over half of the border crossing deaths every year are in Arizona.

When I moved here I knew the issue was big here, but had not seen statistics like that. I didn't know that, far more than in any other border state, a huge percentage of the land within 100 miles of the border is federal land. And there are all sorts of other facts and figures I can throw out but I haven't had breakfast yet. Basically though, this is the place.

Posted by steev at Abril 22, 2006 06:54 AM
Comments
Vis a vis on-foot border crossings in the U.S., yes. Elsewhere — rather than otherwise — there's Ceuta and Melilla in southern Spain: http://www.elpais.es/afondo/tema.html?id=27 Posted by: jose at Abril 22, 2006 01:55 PM