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The Land Of Open Graves
Oct. 21st, 2018 01:06 pmI came across this book via an article on the Pima County Medical Examiner. This is the morgue that works with the Colibri Project. When a body is found in the Sonoran desert, the medical examiner tries to identify it. They give the information to the Colibri Project who tries to find the family of the deceased and let them know who it is, and if possible, send the remains. The book was written by an anthropologist who has made their field of study the deaths that result from various US immigration policies. These policies force migrants to take the most dangerous route possible, through the Sonoran desert, where temperatures are regularly in excess of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Without enough water and shade, people slowly cook. Robbery and rape are common, as is abandonment by the coyotes who are supposed to guide them. Death is common.
Why did I read this and shove the horror into my brain?
This is going to sound weird, but I feel like it is my civic duty. Little migrant kids are still being kept in camps. Every one of the people heading north is trying for a better life. I've been a tourist in Mexico twice in the last few years. One of our dollars is worth 20 of theirs. Imagine if you could go work in Canada and instead of making $20 USD an hour, they paid you $400 USD. That is what coming to America is like and that's why they do it. That money gets sent back to Mexico or Guatemala and supports whole multigenerational families. I wanted to really understand why people would take such huge risks to migrate and this book succeeded in getting that across. If you had the potential to bring your whole family out of poverty by migrating, you'd do it too, given the right disposition and abilities. I'm sure there are other books about it that would have had the same effect but given my morbid disposition, this one got the point across uniquely well. And after the four? Four books now that I've read examining daily life in Mexico and migration, I have so, so much more empathy for the situation of the kind and wonderful people I'm blessed to visit occasionally.
Why did I read this and shove the horror into my brain?
This is going to sound weird, but I feel like it is my civic duty. Little migrant kids are still being kept in camps. Every one of the people heading north is trying for a better life. I've been a tourist in Mexico twice in the last few years. One of our dollars is worth 20 of theirs. Imagine if you could go work in Canada and instead of making $20 USD an hour, they paid you $400 USD. That is what coming to America is like and that's why they do it. That money gets sent back to Mexico or Guatemala and supports whole multigenerational families. I wanted to really understand why people would take such huge risks to migrate and this book succeeded in getting that across. If you had the potential to bring your whole family out of poverty by migrating, you'd do it too, given the right disposition and abilities. I'm sure there are other books about it that would have had the same effect but given my morbid disposition, this one got the point across uniquely well. And after the four? Four books now that I've read examining daily life in Mexico and migration, I have so, so much more empathy for the situation of the kind and wonderful people I'm blessed to visit occasionally.
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