HEALING ON THE LINE

Some Mexican citizens are willing to risk their life for a chance in the United States, battling Arizona's unforgiving summer sun and the callous landscape of the Sonoran Desert.

In the past 15 years, roughly 5,000 dead migrant bodies have been discovered along the United States-Mexico border, said Walt Staton, a volunteer with No More Deaths.

In 2004, No More Deaths, also known as No Más Muertes, was created to prevent death and suffering along the border and provide humanitarian aid to migrants crossing the border.

Volunteers find shade under a tarp at the Arivaca Camp tent, one of the migrant aid stations. Photo courtesy of NoMoreDeaths.org.

“What we’re trying to do is recognize that these are human beings, these are families, moms and dads and kids that are trying to figure out a way to make it in the world and we want to support that,” Staton said.

For many migrants their exhausting journey is thwarted by the United States Border Patrol. Within 24 hours of being caught, they are fingerprinted, identified and deported back to Mexico, Staton said.

But just past the portal of entry in Nogales, Sonora, Agua Prieta, Sonora and Naco, Sonora are the No More Death’s migrant aid centers. These centers provide basic health care for cuts, scratches and dehydration as well provide food, water and clothing.

“They come to us in just as bad if not worse condition then even when they were picked up in the desert,” Staton said.

A volunteer wraps the foot of someone at a migrant aid center.
Photo courtesy of NoMoreDeaths.org

If a migrant arrives in a more serious condition, such as diabetic shock, volunteers will transport him or her to a hospital. The volunteer will stay with the migrant and act as an advocate for him or her at the hospital.

“These migrant centers give people a chance to rest and relax and think about if they want to cross again or if they want to go home, if they want to go home we can get them bus tickets and things like that to get back,” Staton said.

No More Deaths works with the Mexican Consulate, the Mexican Red Cross and various faith-based and community organizations and operates entirely through donations.

Staton said doctors and nurses often volunteer at the migrant aid centers, but no matter their profession, these volunteers are saving the lives of migrants by attending to their physical and mental health.

Volunteers at the migrant aid centers also monitor the border patrol’s treatment of migrants.

In 2008, No More Deaths wrote a report as part of their advocacy for change in border policies. The report,"Crossing the Line", documented the border patrol’s abuses of migrants’ human rights.

As long as there is a division between nations and principles, the work of No More Deaths will be essential for those who fall in between the division.

Volunteers raise a flag with a green cross, a symbol of aid in Latin America. Photo courtesy of NoMoreDeaths.org.

“Immediately we’re […] assessing where the need is the greatest and where we are the most effective,” Staton said. “The ultimate future is to put ourselves out of business.”