A bill passed in the House has caused controversy because it would make illegal immigration a crime, not just a civil offense as it is now. Also, the House bill would criminalize the actions of those trying to help illegals -- clergy, doctors, teachers, social workers, and others. Several hundred Catholics in Los Angeles have begun a fast to protest those provisions. Advocates for immigrants hope the Senate bill will not be as punitive as the House version.
We have a Lucky Severson story today from the border area south of Tucson, Arizona, where he talked with some of those trying to save immigrants' lives, and some of those trying to catch illegals and send them home.
LUCKY SEVERSON: This is the Sonoran Desert south of Tucson, Arizona -- miles of dry, desolate terrain hospitable only to snakes and lizards. It's a very dangerous place for illegal immigrants.Reverend ROBIN HOOVER (Pastor, First Christian Church and Founder, Humane Borders): Each of these dots represents one death, and some locations there have been so many deaths they're stacked on top of each other.
SEVERSON: Over a thousand men, women, and children have died miserably in the Arizona desert in recent years, and those were only the bodies that were found. It's why Robin Hoover, pastor of the First Christian Church in Tucson, started Humane Borders.
Rev. HOOVER: There are people bleeding and suffering and hurting and dying out here in the desert, and we have to do a response. It's the only way to go. America is better than what we're presenting out here to the world -- just a lot better.
SEVERSON: Each week his volunteers replenish water in the 73 tanks Humane Borders has situated in the desert to prevent even more deaths. Migrants can spot the tanks from the blue flags that fly overhead. Tim Shipe is a volunteer.
TIM SHIPE (Volunteer, Humane Borders): My faith compels me to act on behalf of those who are less fortunate. And the borderlands are a place where there are so many vulnerable people.
SEVERSON: But there are many who feel the Good Samaritan approach is too welcoming and invites trouble.
STACY O'CONNELL (Minuteman Civil Defense Corps): Well, I mean, ever since 9/11 this country has been under attack. You know, we're at war, and to have open borders the way we do is unacceptable.SEVERSON: Stacey O'Connell is with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, an organization of 7,000 volunteers who say they're fed up with the government for not doing more to curtail illegal migration. That's the reason John Malia became a minuteman.
JOHN MALIA (Minuteman): The American public is very "flustrated" at this time. It's to the point that they are becoming angry.
SEVERSON: We're in Sasaby, Mexico, one of the major launching points for illegal immigrants who cross the southern border. There are an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants living in the U.S. today and more, many more -- as many as three quarters of a million a year -- continue to sneak into the country.
Rev. HOOVER: We're coming into peak migration. We'll be at about, maybe, as high as 2,600 by the end of the month, every day.
SEVERSON: Reverend Hoover is in Mexico delivering his maps, which show where his water stations are located. He's doing this in spite of Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff's strenuous opposition. Chertoff believes the maps will entice more people to cross the border and lead to more migrant deaths.Rev. HOOVER: Once again the secretary has shown that he has little knowledge about the facts on the ground. And I'm here to tell you that the facts on the ground trump any theory or any concept of ethics any day of the week.
SEVERSON: Reverend Hoover says he is no bleeding heart liberal. He wants immigration controlled, but in a humane way. His maps hardly appear enticing. They highlight the deaths, warn of the dangers, and dispel the notion that crossing the desert is a walk in the park. Hoover says he is constantly finding people, old and young, struggling through the desert who think civilization is only a few hours and not five torturous days away.
Rev. HOOVER: We interview these 15-year-old Mayan beauty queens that are down here, and they're in their tank tops, and they think they're going to be in Las Vegas in two hours. And any country that denies these children the kind of information that will save their lives is guilty of child abuse.UNIDENTIFIED MINUTEMAN: When we saw them, we called in to our supervisor, who then notified the border patrol.
SEVERSON: Minutemen carry guns and radios but have no authority to arrest anyone. They say they've also saved lives -- 183 since 2002. But their mission is to spot intruders and alert the border patrol, officers like Jim Hawkins, one of 2,500 border patrol agents in the Tucson sector.
JIM HAWKINS (Border Patrol Agent, Tucson): There were 20 individuals in this one van right here -- 20 people including one lady and seven of her children, ranging in age from a toddler to 14 years of age.
Mr. HAWKINS: The vast majority of aliens we see aren't criminals. But when we're dealing with the numbers that we deal with here in the Tucson sector, even if you have 10 or 12 percent of that as a criminal element, we're talking thousands and thousands of people.
PAT DIETRICK (Minuteman): I blame a lot of it on our employers. It's certainly their fault. But, you know, I don't think the Republicans want to do anything about it because they're for the employers. The Democrats don't want to do anything because it's votes for them. So we're kind of in a catch-22. And, you know, I'm fed up. I'm really fed up.
SEVERSON: Even though Americans are troubled by border insecurity, recent polls show that most think illegal immigrants should be able to earn citizenship or they favor guest worker registration. Many share the view of minuteman Ross Labadie.
Rev. HOOVER: This country lacks the political will or the financial resources to close this border, and until they do something decisive, we have got to stop this incredible human tragedy out here.
