event

MFM Blog Update: Time for Changes

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If things go as currently planned, when this scheduled update posts I will be in the desert for more information on a story I have been following since last week. And then writing it up for to post, and then doing the originally planned update on Eddie’s search for his brother-in-law, Andy. It’s the latest in a series of big changes that are happening in my schedule and therefore will affect the blog a bit. My day to day schedule has changed a great deal as of June 1st, including switching from a nightshift back to daylight (or at least, trying to – I’ve been very confused about time since Friday and apparently getting back to daylight will take a little time!). What that means for the blog: a little upheaval in the short term as the blog switches to this new schedule too, but ultimately more regularity and reliability as I can better report and report back here.

from the field

From the field: counting cars

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A small border town scene: while waiting to meet someone this morning, I counted at least 27 Border Patrol vehicles (also 1 Immigration Customs Enforcement, several federal land management & multiple local emergency service vehicles) passing through Robles Junction between 6:14 & 7:13. (then as I type this: 3 more USBP & 1 ICE getting gas)

climate, landscape & weather

Hiking with Samaritans, part 3

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This is the last of a three part series on hiking in southern Arizona with humanitarian volunteers: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & photo gallery

The sun is emerging more frequently as we start take the left branch and begin the last stretch before we reach the border. There is no question that this trail is in use. There are signs of passing people everywhere, some old like a cloth shirt deteriorating into the debris in the stream bed but others fresh like a brightly colored Mexican toilet paper wrapper resting in the grass. The feet that trod these trails both leave and return to family. Migrants seeking jobs may be hoping to pay for anything from food and shelter to housing and medical care.

climate, landscape & weather

Hiking with Samaritans, part 2

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This is the second of a three part series on hiking in southern Arizona with humanitarian volunteers: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & photo gallery

There’s wildflowers everywhere. Tiny, low blue blossoms blanket the ground with taller, springier pink trumpets erupting at intervals in clumps. More infrequently there are also lacy white blooms and occasionally a burst of yellow or fiery flowers. But I’m still wearing all my layers. About 10 minutes in we come to a cache of water jugs.

climate, landscape & weather

Hiking with Samaritans, part 1

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This is the first of a three part series on hiking in southern Arizona with humanitarian volunteers: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 & photo gallery

A few days before I was scheduled to hike with Samaritans, I walked into the parking lot and winced – not just because the heat was hitting me at that moment but because I knew that hiking in this heat with only limited shade would be even worse. But the desert in Arizona is far from predictable. I woke up that Saturday shivering and piled on the layers before starting the drive south. The car shook in winds that swept the highway before we even left Phoenix and the digital bulletin boards warned of possible haboob conditions on the I10. I shuddered, remembering coverage of an accident caused by haboob conditions near Picaco Peak in September 2011.

MFM updates

News page added

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I’ve just added a news page that’s a partial listing of articles, photos and videos about border issues and forensics. A database version that will allow submissions through a form and coding for media type and topics is tentatively being planned and built. Until then, submissions through comments or directly contacting me are more than welcome.

Andy

Filing the report

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It’s been awhile since I’ve heard from Eddie. His latest call, just before the end of March, is unexpected but follow-up on my part is probably overdue. There’s no new information about Andy. Instead Eddie has called to give me report numbers. Eddie’s wife has filed a missing persons report with NAMUS, a national missing persons database.

climate, landscape & weather

Samaritan Training

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If you run into trouble or out of water in the desert, finding help may be essential to your survival. From local police and sheriff’s departments to elite Border Patrol units, law enforcement in southern Arizona regularly rescues migrants who’ve gotten injured or ill, as well as recreational hikers, hunters and off roaders. But many people, especially migrants, can’t call for help when they most need it. Cell phone reception is weak and patchy, and some pollers demand that migrants leave their cell phones behind before crossing the border, if they even had cell phones to begin with. Many are also afraid of any contact with law enforcement.

climate, landscape & weather

Meeting the Desert in Arizona

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Before moving to Arizona in 2009, I had only briefly been in desert conditions, a few winter days in the Negev that included the view from Masada towards the Dead Sea, all dunes and crags and distance. Driving south from Phoenix for the first time, I was confused – I looked for sand but saw scrub. From the highway, I was looking at a landscape full of plants. The trip could be made in two hours and I was told that crossing points in Nogales were only an hour further. The temperature dropped as we rose in elevation.