Humane Borders

Across the Wire (Urrea, Luis Alberto)
Urrea worked from 1978 to 1982 for a faith-based aid group in Tijuana, and first wrote these tales of heartbreak and hope for the San Diego Reader after he returned to the region in 1990.

Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide (Andreas, Peter)
The high-profile display of force is less about deterring illegal crossings and more about re-crafting the image of the border and symbolically reaffirming the state's territorial authority.

Border of Death, Valley of Life (Groody, Rev. Dan)
This book is a first-hand account of religious ministry reaching out to heal the lives of desperate people who come to the United States, often illegally, seeking a better life.

Causes And Trends In Migrant Deaths Along The U.S. Mexico Border, 1985-1998 (University of Houston: Eschbach, K; Hagan, J; Rodriguez, N.)
The authors write: "The attempts to cross the border surreptitiously away from areas of intense border enforcement and through less detected but more dangerous points, the greater use of unknown smugglers, the predatory habits of border bandits -- all are examples of risk factors that have combined to make border crossings a much more dangerous experience." (Editor's note: This is key documentation. It comes in PDF format. Get the Adobe Acrobat reader here. It's free.)

Crossing Over (Martinez, Ruben)
The story of the deaths of three brothers -- all migrants -- in California leads Martínez to travel to their hometown in rural Mexico. He then follows the rest of the family north as they fan into the United States, documenting how they are changed by life in the U.S., and what happens when they bring those changes home.

Coyotes (Conover, Ted)
Conover posed a migrant -- crossing the border illegally, enduring bone-breaking work in the fields, traveling back to Mexico -- all in order to tell their stories. He spent a year, as he puts it, "working, drinking, smoking, driving, sleeping, sweating and shivering with Mexicans."

Dead in Their Tracks (Annerino, John)
Annerino hooked up with four Mexican nationals determined to cross the border illegally. Their choice was simple: risk the journey, or fail to provide for their starving families.

The Devil's Highway: A True Story (Urrea, Luis Alberto)
This first cohesive attempt to describe the forces that created the deaths of a dozen migrants one infamous March day near Wellton, Ariz., in 2001, is poetic, vivid and heartbreaking.

The Far Southwest, 1846-1912 (Lamar, Howard)
To understand the US-Mexico border, you have to understand its genesis. Lamar's text lays out the economic and political aspirations of the captains of industry from the East who sought to open and exploit the Southwest, eventually to bring it under the umbrella of the United States government.

Goatwalking (Corbett, Jim)
Goatwalking is a memoir that traces Corbett's awakening to the plight of Central American refugees flleeing civil war and persecution in the late 1970s and 1980s, how he helped found and lead the faith-based Sanctuary movement to help the refugees seek asylum in the United States, and how the federal government infiltrated and eventually prosecuted Corbett, the Rev. John Fife and others for their efforts. Some of those active in Tucson's Sanctuary movement play active roles in borderlands humanitarian work today.

God and Caesar At The Rio Grande (Cunningham, Hilary)
Written following the Sanctuary trial, Cunningham looks at the interplay between faith-based humanitarian efforts and the stated role and goals of U.S. border control policies.

INS's Southwest Border Strategy: Resource and Impact Issues Remain After Seven Years (GAO, August, 2001)
"The primary discernable effect of the strategy, based on INS' apprehension statistics, appears to be a shifting of the illegal alien traffic. Between 1998 and 2000, apprehensions declined in three Border Patrol sectors, San Diego, CA, and El Paso and McAllen TX, but increased in five of the other six Southwest border sectors," the report states, and later adds that, "A study of migrant deaths along the Southwest border concluded that while migrants have always faced danger crossing the border and many died before INS began its strategy, the strategy has resulted in an increase in deaths from exposure to either heat or cold." (Editor's note: This is another key text. However, the Bush Administration has made it more difficult to access government documents online. If you want a copy of this report, but are having problems accessing it online, contact Humane Borders. We have copies.)

Lives on the Line: Dispatches from the U.S.-Mexico Border (Davidson, Miriam)
A portrait of the rise of the Maquiladora phenomenon in Nogales, Ariz., and the often sad and unpredictable ways in which it has impacted lives on the both sides of the border.

Mexican Voices/American Dreams (Davis, Marylin P.)
Davis combines detailed oral interviews with a wide range of participants in the immigration process, including many migrants, along with a historical overview from the 1920s to the present.

Mexicanos (Gonzalez, M.)
The author's project is aimed at broadening the scope and understanding of the forces that have driven Mexicans north, and then examining the contributions they have made to business and social life in the United States. In the process, Gonzalez offers a well thought out critique of current assumptions in Chicano academic research and writing.

The U.S. - Mexican Border in the 20th Century (Lorey, David)
This is one of the best attempts at a comprehensive treatment of the unique evolution of the U.S.-Mexico border region, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present.

Watching America's Door: The Immigration Backlash (Suro, Roberto)
Somewhat dated, in that it ends before the desert death phenomenon begins, Suro's work is still a useful key to understanding the motives and process behind border control lawmaking.

Willing Workers: Fixing the Problem of Illegal Mexican Migration to the United States (Cato Institute: Griswold, D.)
"Demand for low-skilled labor continues to grow in the United States while the domestic supply of suitable workers inexorably declines - yet U.S. immigration law contains virtually no legal channel through which low-skilled immigrant workers can enter the country to fill that gap." This is an important book written from a largely libertarian perspective.