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Copyright ©
2006 Eric Verdier, All Rights Reserved
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As a result of Operation Gatekeeper, the entire northern border of Tijuana became a wall and undocumented workers and their families were forced to try to cross the border by going through the Imperial Desert or to cross over the Otay and Tecate mountains. People have not been deterred from attempting to cross, but they have been forced to risk their lives in the crossing attempt. In one month during the 1996-1997 winter 16 migrants froze to death in the mountains. This is not an aberration. Global Exchange documented the deaths of more than 1,500 people trying to cross the Mexico-U.S. border between 1994 and 1999. Since many die in remote areas, the bodies of all are not found and the actual numbers may be far greater. Causes of death include: drowning (in the canals, ditches and the Rio Grande), dehydration, heat stroke, hypothermia, traffic accidents and the occasional bullet. The American Friends Service Committee presently estimates that an average of one immigrant a day dies along the border.
Kenneth J. Theisen (the communications director at Bay Area Legal Aid. He writes on public-interest law issues).
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