Border Wars

I've never seen the National Geographic program called Border Wars but members of my family, who live in southern Arizona, tell me it's a very realistic representation of what's happening in their backyard, literally. I spent a week visiting them recently and got a first-person look at this conflict.

The U. S. Border Patrol flies helicopters back and forth all day. On the main highway, 3 miles from their home, all northbound cars must stop for inspection. While riding his mountain bike on a back road my brother-in-law was stopped by a Border Patrol officer. He was told to call the dispatch office if he saw anyone "suspicious".

As I understand it, the Border Wars program presents a variety of perspectives on the tensions surrounding what my family call "the undocumented". There are stories of the victimization by "coyotes", those who illegally transport and often rip off people desperate to get into the United States. There are also stories about the valiant attempts of the Border Patrol to prevent drugs and violent criminals from crossing into our country.

I haven't seen the program yet so I don't know if it presents a particular bias. I do know that Al Jazeera reported that:

'The total number of people killed while attempting to cross the border lies between 350 and 500 a year, depending on whether figures from the US and Mexican governments are used."

Many of these people die of thirst.

Border Wars will air a new program this Sunday, 3/7, at noon. It will feature a town on the border called Nogales, some 20 miles south of my family's home.

I don't know if this program is advocating for a different way to handle this growing problem. I do know it's needed.