36 Deaths this Weekend that You Probably Heard Nothing About

Mountains near Sierra Vista, Arizona, 2001

At least 12 illegal immigrants died while trying to cross the Arizona desert, while 24 Africans drown at sea in an attempt to reach Malta. Their environments could not have been more different; essentially 12 people died from lack of water while 24 died from too much of it; but their situations that drove them to risk their lives in this way were exactly the same.

The media makes a quick announcement, and then goes on to more pressing news, such as the "Paris Hilton to give Larry King post-jail interview" headline on Yahoo! News yesterday. Of course, it's not like people are demanding to hear about migrant deaths. Most either don't care, or believe the subject is too depressing to talk about. But this ugly business, which is an almost daily occurrence, must be openly discussed, particularly if we are going go try to tackle immigration legislation one more time. Do you think the immigration bill that is being revived in the US Senate will prevent deaths like these? Not in any form of the bill I've seen so far. And that is why I oppose it.

In any case, who is at fault for deaths like these? There are some people, who will always blame the United States. But can't we honestly say that the blame lies in several places at once?

1) The migrants themselves - unless someone forced them to take the journey, which is rarely the case; normally they pay human smugglers thousands of dollars for the privilege. Of course, one could argue that desperate poverty forced them into it, which is certainly understandable. But it still remains that if you are going to attempt to cross the Arizona desert without adequate water or transportation, then the summertime is not an advisable time to do it! And I cannot put that blame on anyone but the migrants themselves.

2) The nations they are fleeing; often this is due to war, oppression, or simple poverty, but sometimes, as in the case of Mexico, you have a nation actively encouraging its citizens to make the dangerous journey to the United States.

3) You also have the recipient nation; the theory of blame here is similar to the bizarre concept of "attractive nuisance" in the United States, where landowners can be held responsible if a trespasser drowns in their swimming pool, a burglar falls through a skylight, or a vandal electrocutes himself on top of a train, etc.

Well, so the theory goes, we lure them here with our jobs. Well, if that is true, do luxury car manufacturers "lure" people into carjackings?

Of course, many of the nation's policies contribute to the problem. To quote the BBC story on the Malta migrants:

The Italian authorities have recently extended the reception centre for illegal immigrants on the island, but it is already overflowing with people.

As quickly as the police process the immigrants and fly them out or put them on a ferry to the mainland, more arrive.

Here's a radical idea: how about not transporting them to the mainland? Once there, they are essentially lost on the European Union forever, and most head north towards Germany or England.

Talk of amnesty, both in the US and Europe, also greatly contributes to the problem.

4) Finally, why does no one want to cast blame toward the special interest groups that stand to benefit from such immigration? Obvious candidates are race/religion based groups, such as La Raza, or The Muslim Council of Britain. But you can include political parties, such as the socialists in Europe, or the Democratic party in the US, that expect any new immigrants to cast their votes mainly for them. Add to this the strong business interests that love the cheap labor (mainly Republicans in the US), call anyone who opposes you a racist, and you have quite a powerful combination of allies, which, while a minority, when working in concert can still easily thwart the majority view that wants to clamp down on such immigration.

Some of us want to save lives, and we are branded racists for it. And from a fellow Catholic, no less.


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