Desert walk: Immigration and the Environment

Dan Millis of the Sierra Club speaks to our group as we start our desert walk

The sixth day of our trip was the last day that we spent in Arizona, as our final day would be spent in Mexico.  As it was Sunday, the morning was relaxing and most of the group spent in at Southside Presbyterian Church, the home church of Ken Kennon, who spoke to us yesterday.  We met back at BorderLinks for lunch, where we had a presentation from Dan Millis of the Sierra Club.  Dan spoke to us primarily about environmental concerns due to immigration and the wall erected at the U.S.-Mexico border.  To be honest, this was something I had never once thought about even though, largely due to the nature of my profession, I typically am very concerned about environmental issues.

Dan spoke to us first about the wall.  We had heard from several people throughout the week about the wall and how it has affected migration.  One of the saddest aspects of the wall is that, because it is very expensive to build (anywhere from $4 to $20 million per mile, depending on the terrain and location) and because it is not continuous along the border, it has only been erected in strategic locations, such as in population centers like Nogales or in historic crossing routes.  As a result, those attempting to cross have been forced to go through harsher terrain, such as desert and mountains, where there is no wall and less border patrol presence.  While this strategy (along with a lagging U.S. economy, an economy in Mexico that has been slowly improving, and several other factors) has led to fewer attempted crossings over the last 5-8 years, it has also led to an increasing number of people dying as they attempt to cross.  That is why people like Mike Wilson and groups like No More Deaths have felt compelled to help by giving water to migrants.  The wall, and the shift in the nature and pattern of migration due to the wall has also led to several environmental impacts, which the Sierra Club summarizes here.

A discarded backpack on a migrant trail south of Green Valley, AZ

Dan essentially categorized the environmental impacts into three levels.  At the first level, there is the damage caused by foot traffic from migrants and border control, and the trash left behind by migrants on their journey.  Trash primarily includes discarded water bottles, food wrappers, clothes, and backpacks.  While this is perhaps the most obvious effect, Dan considered it the easiest to deal with as many groups regularly go through migrant trails in the desert and clean up this debris.

The border wall in Nogales

At the second level is new roads created and vehicle traffic that has indirectly impacted soil structure, water flow, plant life, and erosion.  The third level effect is the wall itself.  He cited migratory patterns of animals that have been disrupted by the physical barrier as well as flooding concerns.  Though the desert is generally dry, their are many places along the border where there is a late summer monsoon season, during which heavy rains are quite common.  In many of these areas, the wall acts as a levee and has led to significant flooding.  This is true even in areas such as Nogales where the wall is not solid- it has openings more like a steel fence, but those openings are easily clogged by debris blown into it by the high desert winds.  He showed us slides of flooding in Nogales during a monsoon rain in which the water on the Mexico side of the wall rose up over six feet, causing millions of dollars of damage to buildings, vehicles, and the wall itself, as well as 2 deaths.  The images looked just like what we saw in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.  In other areas, sections of the wall have collapsed after the soil supporting it was washed away by rushing waters that were diverted from their natural path by the wall following heavy rains.

The beginning of our border walk

A jumping cholla, or jumping cactus

After his talk, we drove to a migrant trail in order to get a sense for what a migrant experiences as he or she is crossing the border.  The spot we drove to was about 20 miles North of Nogales and, because the trail is not a straight line from point A to point B, it would represent about 35 miles of walking from their point of origin.  I think sometimes people think that there is a line of officers at the actual border and if a migrant somehow makes it across the line they are home free, but in reality the border patrol covers all of southern Arizona (and presumably functions the same in other states), and the journey of the migrant is not over until they reach whatever city they are going to, whether it be Tucson, 75 miles North of the border, or wherever else.  Dan mentioned encountering migrants on the trails while he was doing cleanup who asked him "How much farther to Minnesota?"

Cintia lost her shoe real quick when she felt the Jumping cholla poke through

We walked for about a mile along the trail in the heat of the day.  Being the first week of April, it was in the mid 80s during the time we were out there.  On one side of the trail was a barbed wire fence that ran along the perimeter of a ranch and all along both sides of the trail were various types of cactus, velvet mesquite trees, and brush.  Every plant out on the trail was sharp, capable of piercing your skin or ripping your clothes.  Three different people in our group of 13 managed to step on or brush against a jumping cholla, or jumping cactus, so named for it's tendency to separate itself from the body of the cactus and follow along on anything or anyone who brushes against it.

The loose rock and gravel on this slope complicated things

While the beginning of our walk was on a fairly wide, straight, and flat section of trail, it wasn't long before we got to a hillier area where we found ourselves walking down and then up a rather steep hill.  The path was rocky and several in our group slipped or struggled.  The trail got narrower too and we had to take care not to be poked or scraped by a cactus or shrub in the tight quarters.  It was not an easy walk, and we were doing it in the light of day.  Knowing that most migrants will walk during the night, without flashlights, to try to avoid detection, it was hard to imagine how anyone could do the walk without suffering some serious scrapes and cuts, along with the dehydration that would come from spending so much time in the desert without enough water.  It was also easy to see how slower members could easily be separated from a group and left behind to find their own way. 

Another discarded backpack

Along the way we saw a few discarded items.  I counted a handful of backpacks, a few items of clothing, a toothbrush, and several water bottles.  We were not far from the highway and there was a rest area near where we entered.  Many migrants who travel this particular path will try to meet someone at the rest stop to take them to their next location.  At one point in the walk we came to a spot Dan identified as the final gathering place before the group heads to the rest stop.  Here the coyote, the guide of the group, would instruct people to drop their backpacks and any other belongings that might identify them as a border crosser.  As such, this is where the cleanup crews generally see the most trash, however when we were there it was pretty clean. 

The world's worst water bottle

On the way back to our van, several of us noticed  a strange looking thing, which turned out to be a shriveled up cactus.  Dan explained to us that this particular type of cactus holds a great amount of water inside of it, and migrants desperate for water will often cut them and try to drink from it.  It's hard to imagine being desperate enough to hold something as menacing as a cactus in your hands and drink water from it, but that is the reality for many of those who make the full walk that we just sampled.  Whatever you think of those who attempt this journey, don't mistake them for cowards or weaklings, as the trek they make is challenging, strenuous, long, and unforgiving.