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Living in Tucson, a mere one hour drive from the Mexican border, this story is not so different than what we see here in Arizona with migrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico and other Latin American countries. In the case of the article that you shared, @DCS900, those in search of a better life died crossing a body of water. Here in Arizona, they die crossing the desert.

I've lived in Tucson for 30 years and the issue of people entering the U.S. illegally is long-standing. Living so close to the border, I realize how simple the issue may seem at face value and yet how complex it is. I grew up in a very small farm town in southern Minnesota. My mom lived there until she died in 2013. She and I had many conversations about border issues and she couldn't fathom why anyone would willingly leave their home and enter America illegally. Her view was basically, "why don't they just make their lives better where they already live?" When I shared one particularly horrific though not uncommon reason--drug cartels often threaten families with death if one or more family members won't become drugs mules--she was aghast. And I asked her how bad her life would have to be for her to leave the home she had lived in for over 50 years.

Having met a number of Mexicans that crossed the border earlier in their lives and made a life for themselves in Tucson, my perspective is different than I'm sure it would be had I not left my small home town. And 30 years of living here near the border, reading the news, talking with people, and traveling to Mexico many times, I know it's not as simple as the politicians and the newspapers would have us believe. Nope, I don't have a solution, BTW.

All of the places referenced in this article are a within a couple of hours drive from where I live. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is only 126 miles from Tucson.


This USAToday story is several years old, but nothing much has changed other than that construction on The Wall has ceased.

https://www.usatoday.com/border-wal...co-border-deaths-organ-pipe-cactus/608910001/

 

I think you'll find the article informative, DCS. It does speak to the number of deaths (or estimates) in Arizona. And I'm glad that you'll read it when you have a bit of time. I found it a moving read.

 

Just watching the news here and apparently, (according to grant schapps), it's because the route of getting in via lorries (trucks) has pretty much vanished due to technology so the only way is via the channel. That obviously in everyones vision instead of under the radar (which has been going on for years with untold numbers)

 

Can’t help thinking that there is a much bigger story in play as the French now cancel a meeting with the UK. The migrants are just political footballs. Very sad.

 

Oh my such a waste of a life. Can a human life ever be worth saving a few tools?

 

Yes, @DCS900, I do live quite close to the location with this happened.--it’s only 14 miles from our house. The officer has been fired but other factual details are just trickling in. Has been something about it in our local newspaper each day since the incident happened.

@Wessa, I completely agree with you about a waste of human life. The shoplifting of the toolbox at a Walmart certainly started the whole progression of tragic events but my understanding of the basic facts (alleged facts perhaps?) include that the man in the wheelchair brandished a knife and the officer tried to talk him out of it. He refused to relinquish the knife and began going into a home improvement store with it. Then the officer shot him. Nine times. In the back. To me at this point how the officer got from trying to talk a man in a wheelchair out of a knife to shooting him in the back nine times is incomprehensible. The police chief when interviewed talked about all the training officers receive about de-escalation and using minimum amount of force necessary. I mean geez, the guy was in a wheelchair with a knife, not an assault rifle.

 

Yes the escalation is just not proportional to the crime. Perhaps there will be more clarity as the facts emerge.

 

Yes the escalation is just not proportional to the crime. Perhaps there will be more clarity as the facts emerge.

 

It’s not rocket science to disable a wheel chair and to then reassess the situation you would have thought? If he then stands up and starts to get lairy, that’s a different story…
I think it’s horrible for him (cop) to just grab him like that as you can clearly see he’s not able to react and cuff him so forcefully.

 

Never take a knife to a gun fight.

 

Such a pity we can't apply multiple ratings to individual posts ...........................

 

I agree with you, @Adie P. I'd add these (of course, some of these emojis aren't even available in the post rating list):



This report disturbs me deeply but, sadly, it doesn't surprise me. The 2008 financial crisis and ensuing recession was when I first became acutely aware of how the rich, particularly the ultra-rich, are able cash in on catastrophes and the misery of others. I'd read that the same things occurred during the Great Depression, too. And it has probably happened through time immemorial. Those with massive amounts of wealth can take advantage of the woes of others and buy up real estate, companies, etc. I find it abhorrent. At the very least they could buy Matt’s guitar for @DCS900 and spring for @Adie P's bike.

 

QED @Sandi T QED.

 

Related to sanctions for human rights violations, I have a difficult time not being cynical when I read an article like this. There are human rights violations all around the globe--why target these countries in particular? It seems that when I've gone digging in the past to try to answer this question, there's always something in it for us as a country. They have some natural resources we want (like oil) or military or border positioning, etc. It doesn't generally seem to be very altruistic and nobel even if couched that way.