Migrants, Justice and the Border

            During the week of the Migrants, Justice and the Border event held at ASU West, I chose to attend the “Mending Wall” public art project held on the Fletcher Library Lawn.  The 110 foot long “Mending Wall” bisected the central lawn and was a joint venture between ASU West and the Arizona Coalition for Latin American Artists.

(Here is a photo of the unveiling of the Mending Wall)

            I walked by both sides of the wall several times and was impressed with both the idea and the art work.  I thought that the miniature replica of the actual wall that separates the United States and Mexico was an excellent idea.  The wall was made to look like the original but was then painted in a graffiti type fashion with different sections representing different ideas.  For example, there was one section that was painted all black and had the words “desierto mal,” meaning bad desert, written in white across it.  The general theme of most of the sections was of the death and despair that the elements of the desert cause to migrants that try to illegally enter the United States by crossing through the desert on foot. 

          Several of the sections had words referring to different family aspects of the people crossing.  I understand that the artists were trying to get the point across that these people dying were fathers, brothers, sons and daughters of people that are left behind and I do feel for them, but I don’t think that I can feel too badly for them.  It is their own decision to make this journey, illegally, to try and enter the United States.  In fact, it kind of scares me to think that this is happening.  If 205 people died last year entering the country, how many made it across freely?  The frightening part about the situation is that no one knows who may be trying to enter the United States illegally through Mexico.  Who is to say that these people are not terrorists from countries other than Mexico or people bringing in deadly weapons that find an easy access point to enter the country in the desert?  I find it a little ironic that an 85 year old lady at Sky Harbor Airport gets searched numerous times when coming into the United States, but if you decide to cross through the desert, you won’t get checked by anyone and can bring anything you want with you.

I understand that there are people dieing in the desert who are trying to reunite with their families or are simply looking for a better life.  However, the bottom line is that what they are doing is illegal and dangerous to the protection of our own country.  I think that the United States needs to implement even stricter border regulations and barriers so that we can protect our own people first.