I wasn't breaking any laws when I set out to leave gallons of water on Bureau of Land Management land in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. I know this not because I'm an expert on these issues, but because I'm firmly convinced that Noand so I went with someone who was and who could explain the nuances to us as we waded through the heavy, sloshing water on our backs.
If you leave water for migrants in distress who might find it after crossing the border illegally in certain places, including BLM lands, you're likely to be fine. But if you encounter a person in distress and offer them water or a ride, you risk arrest, prosecution, fines and possibly jail time, depending on the circumstances.
Directly saving someone's life can get you charged with a serious crime, although as my guide says, “we should prosecute people who No “Helping a dying person.” Being human or being safe from the law: that is the question.
In addition to the legal problems, I was also faced with the idea that white people were the saviors. I know I am part of the problem, a citizen of a nation that has destabilized and exploited the areas from which so many immigrants come. My one foray into the desert carrying water will not make up for that, and it is nothing compared to the efforts of very active locals like my guide. And it is just a drop in the proverbial ocean of what could be achieved with global economic and political change.
But I still shook the water off my back and left it under a large plastic tub, which we weighed down with rocks, in an area our guide thought might be useful. I looked out at the expanse of organ cactus as the sound of distant planes from the nearby bombing range echoed. And I thought about how both laws and social pressures can convince us to do or not. No Do something that's useful. But also: What the heck! If someone comes across a gallon of water and needs it, great.
The place scared me, I admit, and I was glad when we got back to the car. The reality of walking in a place where some people hide, others watch, many have guns, and everyone has different goals had an ominous feel to it. It was as if the air was permeated with the pain underlying the conflict. But above all, it was a very remote place, and I didn’t like feeling so alone.
On the way back, we talked about the “proximity principle,” which posits that humans tend to care most about what they can witness or sense. That’s understandable. As a novelist, though, I’ve always been intrigued by the ways humans can tune in—or not—to topics that are beyond their purview, and how fiction can expand that proximity. I believe in the power of effective, connective storytelling to increase empathy. After all, there is a Science makes people care, and it's all about communication.
The U.S.-Mexico border is mostly discussed in relation to politics and which party is to blame for so many migrants seeking legal asylum here. But people who cross into the U.S. secretly are a clear example of the “out of sight, out of mind” problem. Because of the numerous border crossing points and the fact that so many migrants want to be invisibleThere is not much proximity. That is why countless ethical and humanitarian issues are so easily overlooked at borders.
But that doesn't mean that massive suffering isn't taking place. In fact, my guide explained to me that this remote area is one of the deadliest. Clearly, fundamental policy changes are needed, but in the meantime, groups like No More Deaths and the various Samaritan groups, as well as ordinary citizens, are leaving water, cans of beans and blankets.
It is clear that although the landscape feels empty, not everyone is devoid of empathy.
The night of our water delivery, I gathered around a campfire with a few locals, including one who had been arrested, charged, and then acquitted by a federal jury for offering humanitarian aid to migrants. The conversation kept revolving around the uniqueness of this area, which is invisible. After all, these deliveries are for lazy people. idea of a person, not someone you're likely to see.
Also overlooked is the environmental damage exacerbated by climate change: depletion Wetlands, animal migration routes disrupted and remote sacred sites ruined They are not always visually evident. What about the invisible damage to human relationships? Tohono O'odham For example, people have become divided and those on the American side can no longer visit their relatives in Mexico with ease. All of this has great significance, whether we see it or not.
As the night drew to a close, the stars twinkling in the cold sky, I asked everyone what they would like people to know about this contested landscape. In one way or another, they all said the same thing: many don't see what's going on here. We wish they would.
I think we are up to the task. That we can resist the temptation to care only about what we witness firsthand. That, through the work people do and the stories they tell, we can recognize that invisible lives are intertwined with our own lives more than we realize, and that they matter.
The protagonist of Laura PritchettHis latest novel, “Three keys”, makes a drop of water and deals with issues of invisibility in an approaching middle age.–of–journey of age.
