How much is "everything"?

We found Francisco lying in the deep shade of a mesquite tree in a wash on the Growler Pass. He wore a red shirt that had begun to fade to pink, a pair of blue jeans and a strikingly intricate silver belt buckle that would have done any screen cowboy proud.

It was the day of the water line, 24 No More Deaths volunteers divided into 5 teams to place water bottles in a 6 mile horizontal line across the Growler Pass. The Pass is one of the most dangerous places in the Arizona desert, it stretches from more than 30 miles between the Organ Pipe National Monument in the east to the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Bombing Range in the west. There are no water sources, no trails and few landmarks. The goal of the water line was to place a gallon of water about every 50 feet stretching across the Organ Pipe section of the Pass, thereby increasing the chances that migrants would come across at least one gallon when they were in need, and from that gallon they would be able to see the ones placed on either side of it.

I was in Group 3, responsible for the center of the line. We set out for our first GPS marker and then turned west dropping our gallons as we went, covering about 0.5 miles of our designated 1.5 mile section. As we dropped our final gallon we created a GPS waypoint to locate the end of the first line when we returned for the second section.

On our way back to the truck to get the next load of water we found Francisco. We spent about 15 minutes with him before marking his location in our GPS and continuing back. Almost immediately we ran into a group of National Park Service (NPS) Police. (These are not your regular NPS rangers, with wide brimmed hats who want to know if you have seen a bear. These are fully militarized police with bullet proof vests, multiple guns, night-sticks, mace etc).  We gave them Francisco’s location and asked them to help him. Then we drove a little further down the dirt road, reloaded with water and headed back out into the desert to the start of the second section of our line.

We reached the end of our water for the second section at the point where the end of the first section should have been. But wait, where was the end of our first line? We looked around, checked the GPS and followed our previous footprints, no water. Turning back towards Francisco we retraced our steps. He was still there, quiet, under the mesquite. A little further and the NPS police were walking back out to meet us. We asked, “Have you helped Francisco?” “No.” “Did you pick up our water?” “Yes, we picked up some trash in the desert.” Sure enough, in the back of the NPS truck was all the water from the first section of our line.

Back at camp in the evening, I could not stop thinking about Francisco. How did he come to be there, all alone in the wash, with no ID, no backpack, no water? Almost no-one crosses the desert alone. Was he with a group that got scattered by Border Patrol? Their “coyote” may have held his ID and personal belongings as a guarantee for payment. He may not have been able to reconnect with the group being disorientated by the heat, thirst and the vastness of the Growler Pass. Perhaps he was with a group and they took his ID when they went to get help, and he waited patiently for their return.

Aside from the “how” what about the “why”? Did he believe he would have a better life in the US? With all the anti-immigrant policies streaming from the government, the great gulf of inequality in US society and the erosion of the social safety net, did he still believe life in the US was worth crossing miles of one of the most dangerous deserts in the world. Maybe he dreamed of being united with family members already living in the US. He might have imagined a happy reunion with them as he watched the sun set between the mesquite leaves for the last time.

It has taken me a long time to share this story, partly because I didn’t know if it would invade Francisco’s privacy. I think that now is the right time. Nike recently launched an advertising campaign designed to get people to buy $200 sneakers with the tag line, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.” How much is everything? Unfettered free market corporate pursuit of profit and the US government’s border policy of Prevention Through Deterrence resulted in 412 migrants quite literally sacrificing everything in the US border deserts in 2017. This year, as of June 25, 48 migrants, including Francisco, have given their lives in the pursuit of their dreams and their belief that they would have a better life in the US. 

#therevolutiondoesnotgobetterwithcokeornike #waternotwalls