fotos

I've been out of Nogales for nearly a week now. I've had some space to decompress and process while with family, and think of how to keep working with immigration/border issues from Walla Walla. I'll keep you posted.

View from the apartment in Nogales AZ. The houses on the hill are all in Nogales Mexico.

Section of the Nogales wall from the Mexico side. The mural depicts Santa Muerte (Saint of Death) underneath the "Eye of Providence" that is on U.S. currency. Above the wall is a Border Patrol surveillance tower.

Grupos Beta, the Mexican federal agency that provides aid to migrants, places water in the desert South of the border for those who are crossing. Some walk through desert country for days before even reaching the wall to cross.

On the drive out to the desert camp in Arivaca.

A note left by a traveler in the desert camp this summer:

"A rainy and cold day like today I give thanks to God .

Because he put me in the path where I found refuge and I learned that in the darkest and most ugly [times/places] there is an exit a ray of light. To whoever made this camp thank you for helping us.

Every harvest has its fruit."

Road taken by monsoon

Labeling gallons of water for migrants on a water-drop hike near Arivaca. Photo by Katy Brandes.

From a patient we treated one afternoon at the camp: "Thank you for your attention. May the Father protect you. Very hospitable/friendly."

Desert camp med tent and kitchen tent infront of the Twin Peaks.

This is David [name changed] - he's from Honduras and is traveling with a group of other young Hondurans. He first claimed to be 17, then admitted to 15. We think he is headed back home after a failed border-crossing, but it's hard to be sure of anyone's plans here. David is a sweetheart, a goofy little kid. I wish he were home, playing soccer, waiting for the school year to start. But he's been traveling from Honduras with hopes of work in the U.S., and back in Honduras he'll be working the coffee fields.

Friends at Transportes Reforma

Christ figure at the shelter in Nogales Mexico, with detention center bracelets along the arms. [The pink ones are from Maricopa County]. Photo by Katy Brandes.

Photo by Katy Brandes.