Margaret Regan (Author of The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona-Mexico Borderlands) Vistis UC Davis

We previously have blogged about Margaret Regan’s insightful book about life-and-death along the U.S./Mexico border, The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona-Mexico Borderlands.  For anybody interested in the the human impacts of border enforcement — and heartbreaking stories about the migrants, this book is a “must read.”  Besides telling the stories of migrants, Regan offers the perspectives of Immigration & Custom Enforcement Officers, environmentalists, landowners along the border, Minutemen, and others about life along the modern U.S./Mexico border in Arizona.  It is an even-keeled and thoughtful account of the impacts of border enforcemnent, a relative rarity in books on immigration. 

Last week, Regan visited UC Davis and gave a talk about the border to the Institute of Governmental Affairs.  She talked about the rising death toll along the U.S./Mexico border south of Tucson and narrated slides showing, among other things, an overflowing morgue.  Her sobering account, as well as the book, reminded me of my visit in 2006 to the migrant port of Altar, Mexico, with a plaza that Regan referred to as the “WalMart for migrants,” with packs, boots, energy drinks, and food for sale.  Human rights activists Kat Rodriguez and John Fife, both of whom showed me and a group of journalists around the Arizona border region, are referrred to the book.

KJ