I had unexpected guests for breakfast in late April on our rural homestead west of Tucson, Arizona. Two Mexican men banged on the back door and held up their empty water bottles. I asked them in Spanish what they needed. “Agua (water),” they replied. Continue reading Humanitarian aid on one’s doorstep
Category Archives: Updates
An interview with author Todd Miller on climate change and migration
The impacts of a changing climate seem increasingly difficult to ignore. In southern Arizona, we experienced record high temperatures this summer. The heat combines with entrenched border militarization and reckless enforcement tactics to create deadly conditions for migrants and refugees. Continue reading An interview with author Todd Miller on climate change and migration
NMD volunteers help South Texas aid grow
In June, the two of us traveled to Brooks County, Texas as No More Deaths volunteers. We went to assist Eddie Canales and Ryan Stand of the South Texas Human Rights Center (STHRC) in their efforts to set up water stations in the region. South Texas has seen a huge increase in undocumented migration over the last five years. Continue reading NMD volunteers help South Texas aid grow
Media coverage of heat deaths ignores migrants
The Arizona Daily Star ran front-page articles on June 21 and 22 about hikers who died as a result of our extreme summer heat. Since then, the newspaper has published at least two more articles about heat-related deaths, along with warnings to hikers. Continue reading Media coverage of heat deaths ignores migrants
NMD launches campaign to maintain its desert trucks
No More Deaths has launched its first ever online crowdfunding campaign to raise money for our vehicle expenses so we can keep our volunteers rolling year-round.
Our trucks are vital to getting water and aid to migrants and refugees in southern Arizona’s backcountry. We hope to raise $47,842—the real annual cost of maintaining our trucks—by May 1.
The campaign features a great video with a star appearance by long-term volunteer Jim Marx and a soundtrack by Vox Urbana. We are offering T-shirts, posters, and other “perks” for your contribution. All donations go directly to No More Deaths. Continue reading NMD launches campaign to maintain its desert trucks
Judge to decide if Border Patrol must improve conditions
Lawyers have asked a federal judge for immediate relief from “unconstitutional conditions of confinement” at Border Patrol stations in the Tucson Sector, said James Lyall, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona. Continue reading Judge to decide if Border Patrol must improve conditions
Observers watch Border Patrol work at another highway checkpoint
Residents of Arivaca, Arizona can’t leave their peaceful town near the border with Mexico without encountering military checkpoints. Agents of the Border Patrol stop all traffic and ask questions while a dog sniffs the vehicle for drugs. Drivers may be asked to show ID and even ordered out of their vehicle while agents search it. Continue reading Observers watch Border Patrol work at another highway checkpoint
Why do people disappear in the desert?
In June 2015, No More Deaths and La Coalición de Derechos Humanos (Human Rights Coalition) received $10,000 from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee to write three reports that document how border-enforcement policies and practices cause people to disappear while crossing the US–Mexico border. The first of these reports, to be released in early summer, focuses on two Border Patrol practices: destroying lifesaving humanitarian aid and intentionally scattering groups of migrants during apprehension. Continue reading Why do people disappear in the desert?
Border Patrol agent indicted for shooting Mexican teen
A Border Patrol agent accused of shooting a teenager in Nogales, Sonora through the international border fence was arraigned on a charge of second-degree murder October 9, 2015 at the federal courthouse in Tucson. Agent Lonnie Swartz was indicted September 23 by a federal grand jury. Continue reading Border Patrol agent indicted for shooting Mexican teen
Volunteers triple desert area where they offer lifesaving aid
Over the last year, desert-aid volunteers have expanded the scope of No More Deaths’s humanitarian work. In the Arivaca area, we cover a wider radius than ever. Working from Byrd Camp, our home base since 2004, we stock water drops in an eight-hundred-square-mile zone that ranges from rugged mountains to flat, dry cholla thickets. Continue reading Volunteers triple desert area where they offer lifesaving aid