Despite the Mexican government’s well-publicized crackdown in May on the smuggling business here and elsewhere along the border, this town of 17,000 remains a jumping off point for thousands of migrants trying to get to the United States. Altar is the place where they make connections, rest up and prepare for their journey. In this town—located 160 miles south of Tucson—migrants… return to article
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Reader Comments (11)Page 1 of 1 pageswow. This is a moving article. The problems are portrayed clearly and the story makes me wish I could do something. People are dying and this town is their hope. At least some people are making a helpful difference. I just pray that the governments learn how to be compasionate like Altar and do something to help aliviate the poverty of the Mexicans.
Posted by Cathy on Sep 24, 2003 at 4:17 AM There are some basic steps that we can do to help sustain impoverished farmers in Latin America, Africa and Asia:
1. Join Fair Trade lobbyists like Oxfam America, Transfairusa, Global Exchange, and work for
renegotiating of NAFTA and the
killer farm subsidies of the US and Europe;
2.help sustain coffee, cocoa,
tea farmers by promoting Fair Trade Certified (“living-wage”) coffee, cocoa, tea—ask for it at your favorite coffeeshop, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts;more than 100 large roasters
now offer Fair Trade Certified coffee
including Procter & Gamble,
Sara Lee’s Superior Coffee Division
(Prebica coffee) and many supermarket chains.3.lobby your Congress Senators and
Repts. vs NAFTA
(see www.oxfamamerica.org)
4. join your nearby college chapter of United Students for Fair Trade
www.usft.org
Posted by austin paulnack on Sep 24, 2003 at 1:25 PM An amazing insight into the very human exeriences facing immigrants. RM shines a light on their motivations and the injustices occurring on so many levels—from two national governments to opportunitsts trying to make a buck on the backs of the less priveledged. Very revealing!
Posted by Margaret Shafer on Sep 26, 2003 at 5:00 PM Excellent information about NAFTA and how it is direction affecting the Mexican people. I’d like to see more articles like this from Mexico and the border.
Posted by Louis Dematteis on Sep 26, 2003 at 6:05 PM Given that Nafta has gutted Mexico’s family farms, causing vast misery and loss, I see no benefit in doing the same things to the USA’s family farms. Instead we need to deconstruct, if not simply trash, Nafta. Mexico and the USA need mutual trade, but only if it’s mutually benefitial.
I see no gain in destroying American agriculture and increasing our trade deficit by encouraging floods of imports from the third world. It would be far better to simply stop dumpping subsidised grain on third world markets. Oxfam’s programs of buying local grain durring food crises and famines are what we should emulate, with American grain exports as a last resort to be used only in those actually rare times when local or regional food supplies are insufficiant to needs.
I know people trying to keep their family farm. They aren’t getting the money that’s lavished on corperate agribusiness, but agribusiness can easily make it without price supports, family farms can’t. If we strip out all argricultural subsidies, the only American agriculture left would be corperate agribusiness.
Posted by Thomas Devine on Sep 28, 2003 at 7:05 PM “Morales left her comfortable home in Denver, when her mother, who lived in Mexico, became deathly ill. Since she was in the United States…” ILLEGALLY….
Excuse me… I feel for people who get ripped off. I feel for people who die in airless containers. And I feel for people who don’t make enough money…
But the key word here is “illegal” isn’t it. I am not anti-immigrant. My parents are immigrants. I am anti-ILLEGAL-immigrant.
So excuse me if I do not feel for people who have to leave their “comfortable lives” to visit their sick mothers. First of all, as illegals they have no claims to “comfortable lives” in the United States. Second, if Mireya stayed in Mexico in the first place she wouldn’t be in this fiancial mess would she.
Posted by Randall Chiu on Oct 3, 2003 at 6:23 AM Randall-
Amen. Voice of sanity.
Mexico will never prosper until their most productive people stay and make their economy work. It’s a shame that such a great nation has been so poor for so long.
Canada and Mexico aren’t nearly as competitive as the US b/c their governments have no clue about free markets.
Posted by Koppy on Oct 3, 2003 at 8:45 PM Illegal immigration, is only illegal because we made it against the law. In reality no one is harmed, in fact, it benefits the economy. They are paid pennies to do what we won’t. We are paid minimum wage regardless of how lazy we are. We stole this land from the Amerian Indians and then from Mexico. Most of our ancestors migrated into this country. How do you justify that Americans can come and go as they please, yet others can’t. Have you any idea how much these people earn?, the outrages prices of citizenship?, the years one must wait? All I ask is that you make yourselves more aware of these issues before making ignorant remarks. Pray that you may never know what it is like to leave your family and friends and know that you may never see them again. If you wouldn’t do anything, even if it meant crossing a border illegaly for a slim chance to give your loved ones a better life, then I feel sorry for your your children.
Posted by Alfredo on Apr 26, 2004 at 7:51 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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Also by R. M. Arrieta
- An Inconvenient Woman
Arizona public defender Isabel Garcia speaks out against U.S.-Mexico border policy. - Roundups Ratcheted
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