If it’s true that everything is politics then I made a political move when I volunteered with Humane Borders in Tucson, Arizona in July 2003. It wasn’t my intent to be political. I was simply doing research for my Border Patrol novel, Billy Maddox Takes His Shot, on the U.S.-Mexican border.
As I have written elsewhere, the primary source of research for my novel came from that two-week trip to Arizona. Before I left my home in Washington, DC, I had reached out to the faith-based outfit, Humane Borders, which had been founded in 2000 to stem the tide of migrant deaths in the Sonoran Desert. Humane Borders places water jugs at pre-selected locations throughout the desert, claiming to meet a humanitarian need for those crossing the brutal, scorching terrain. It does not specifically endorse the migrants’ journey; the organization simply feels it would be nice if people didn’t unnecessarily die.
[Read more…] about Humane Borders: The Day I Gave Water to Border Crossers
