Volunteers from the immigrant rights group Border Angels walk through a remote desert area in Jacumba Hot Springs, CA to leave water bottles for migrants as they cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Photo: Apu Gomes/Washington Post
Immigration at our southern border is currently a tense political situation but more than anything it’s become a humanitarian crisis. Regardless through which political lens you view the situation, people who are desperate for a better life are dying and going days without water on their journey to enter the United States. That’s why our heroes this week are the volunteers who work with non-profit Border Angels which works to leave water and other necessities for migrants near the border. As the Washington Post reported, Border Angels lead hikes near the border every other month, dropping lifesaving supplies, including blankets, socks, and hand warmers during the winter months, when temperatures can reach near freezing in the desert. Their hikes are open to the public because it’s important for people to see what is happening there.
The volunteers risk arrest, prosecution, and ever-increasing pressure from the Bureau of Land Management and border agents to cease their humanitarian efforts. Enrique Morones, who founded Border Angels in 1986, said such legal action for providing humanitarian aid along the border is unprecedented.“Never has there been this sort of anti-humanitarian work climate as there has been these last two years,” he said, attributing the shift to President Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
February 1, 2019 » border, humanitarian, immigrants, Mexico, migrants, US-Mexico border, water
