from: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0427deathtrail27.html

Deadliest trail in U.S.

Jack Kurtz/The Arizona Republic

Ron Bellavia (left), Border Patrol search and rescue commander, keeps an eye on undocumented immigrants apprehended last week on the Tohono O'odham Reservation.

Reservation tries to cope with migrant influx, crisis

Daniel Gonzlez
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 27, 2003 12:00 AM

BABOQUIVARI TRAIL, Tohono O'odham Nation

Like a giant arrow, the saw-toothed peaks of the Baboquivari Mountains point northward, providing a natural compass for undocumented immigrants navigating through the desert into Arizona from Mexico.

For years the Baboquivari Mountains and the 75 miles of relatively unprotected border the Tohono O'odham Nation shares with Mexico have made the Baboquivari Trail a popular route for immigrants, many of whom brave summer temperatures that soar to 110 degrees and higher.

But these days the trail (pronounced bah-bo-KEY-vree) has turned into the deadliest immigrant crossing in the nation.

For the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, 85 of the 145 immigrant deaths recorded by the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona occurred on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. The majority was along the trail, a series of winding cow paths snaking 26 miles through the desert from the U.S.-Mexican border to the Tohono O'odham Nation's capital in Sells.

The flood of undocumented immigrants,1,500 a day, and a surge in drug smuggling have created a financial and social crisis for the Indian nation, already struggling to overcome high unemployment, poverty and one of the highest rates of diabetes in the country, tribal leaders say.

They say the influx is the direct result of a shift in U.S. border policy that has increasingly funneled immigrants away from urban areas in Texas and California and into Arizona. And, they believe, the U.S. Border Patrol's emphasis on stopping illegal immigration through Douglas, Nogales and Naco has further funneled immigrants through the remote areas of the state's western desert, which includes the Tohono O'odham Reservation."It's created a bottleneck," said Edward Manuel, tribal chairman.

Federal help sought

The Indian nation depends heavily on money generated from its three casinos, $43 million last year, to provide services to tribal members. But tribal leaders say too much is going to cope with the problems generated by undocumented immigrants.

Echoing complaints of Arizona ranchers and others, tribal members want the U.S. government to help pay some of the costs, emphasizing that the border is so porous a terrorist could slip through.

Tribal leaders and residents pressed their case last month before some federal lawmakers who traveled to Sells to see for themselves the impact of illegal immigration and drug trafficking on the reservation. It was the first congressional hearing held on nation land. Manuel and Assistant Police Chief Joseph Delgado testified before the House Government Reform's criminal justice subcommittee.

Manuel said in an interview that the flood of undocumented immigrants and illegal drugs affects all Americans, not just the 13,000 tribal members who live on nation land, which covers an area the size of Connecticut.

"All the drugs coming through here, they go all over the U.S. All the illegal aliens that come through here, they go all over the U.S.," he said.

Tribal leaders estimate border-related expenses, from investigating immigrant deaths to towing vehicles abandoned by smugglers, cost the Tohono O'odham Nation $6.5 million to $7 million in 2002.

That's money, they say, that should have gone to build roads and improve housing conditions on the reservation.

Included in the tab:

$3.7 million for drug interdiction. Police seized a total of 65,000 pounds of marijuana, cocaine and other illicit drugs in 2002, up from 45,000 pounds the previous year.

$1.4 million to help the Border Patrol apprehend undocumented immigrants. All told, 65,000 such immigrants were caught on tribal lands last year.

$500,000 to treat undocumented immigrants at Sells Indian Hospital.

$266,050 to conduct autopsies for undocumented immigrants found dead on tribal lands.

$180,000 to tow cars abandoned by immigrant smugglers.

Social toll

There are social costs, as well.

With 26 percent of the reservation's adults unemployed, smuggling undocumented immigrants and drugs is a common way for tribal members to make money, Manuel said.

"We do have our young people get involved with smuggling because they're being offered money," Manuel said.

Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., who joined the subcommittee for the March 10 hearing, said the border region west of Nogales is "virtually unprotected."

"Unfortunately, the poor management of our borders is coming at a great cost to the Tohono O'odham Nation," he said.

"The federal government must do more to stop illegal immigrants and narcotics from crossing into the reservation. Failing that, we should assist the Tohono O'odham in repairing the environmental damage caused by border crossers and ease the strain on their law enforcement officers who encounter illegal aliens and drug smugglers."

Manuel said the tribe wants more money directly from the federal government or more Border Patrol agents.

Ironically, the tribe is still lobbying Congress to have about 8,500 tribal members granted U.S. citizenship to avoid being targeted by the Border Patrol.

Those members, who live on the Mexican side of the nation, often are stopped by agents trying to track down undocumented immigrants.

During a tour of the border last month, Asa Hutchinson, the top U.S. border security official, pledged he would hire 70 additional Border Patrol agents for the Arizona border.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who also was on the tour, agreed to work with the tribe to seek federal assistance.

"There is no doubt that there is a very serious situation on the reservation," he said Thursday.

Smugglers blamed

Almost 40 percent of the nearly 1 million undocumented immigrants apprehended nationwide by federal authorities last year were captured in Arizona, the gateway of choice for millions of undocumented immigrants.

Seven immigrants have been found dead on tribal land since January, including the first heat-related death of the year on April 13. The body of a 38-year-old man was found near Ali Chukson, at the northern end of the Baboquivari Trail.

Border Patrol officials blame coyotes, or smugglers, for bringing immigrants through the desert.

"It's the smuggler's decision to push these people to remote areas. It's the smugglers who are endangering the lives of the migrants," said Border Patrol Agent Frank Amarillas, a spokesman for the Tucson sector of the patrol, which is responsible for all but the western edge of Arizona's border with Mexico.

Smugglers tell immigrants they can make the trek across the desert to the nearest highway in 10 or 12 hours with a gallon of water; in reality the journey can take days, Amarillas said.

Still, immigrants such as Raul Garcia Sandoval are willing to risk their lives for a job in the United States. Sandoval and two other undocumented immigrants were chased and caught Tuesday by a Border Patrol agent who found them hiding in a wash near Kitt Peak.

Sandoval, 42, who hoped to get a job in Phoenix, slipped across the border near Sasabe at the southern tip of the Baboquivari Mountains, where only a few strands of barbed wire separate the United States from Mexico.

"It's a lot easier to cross through the desert. You have a better chance of getting to the United States," said Sandoval, of Obregon, Mexico. "There are risks, but there are lots of places to hide."

To deter illegal immigration and drug smuggling and avert more deaths, the Border Patrol has assigned more agents to the western desert, including 36 specially trained members of Borstar, the Border Patrol's search and rescue team.

Tohono O'odham police say they stop a dozen cars a night transporting undocumented immigrants along Arizona 86, the main highway through the reservation.

Many times the smugglers and the undocumented immigrants ditch the vehicles and flee into the desert.

Volunteers try to help

To help prevent deaths along the Baboquivari Trail, Tucson-based Humane Borders has volunteered to install water supply stations. Tribal leaders have refused the offer.

"They are, in my opinion, contributing to this tragedy, and it's immoral," said the Rev. Robin Hoover, the non-profit group's president.

Manuel said installing water supply stations is a "losing cause."

"What good is it going to do when you've got 1,500 immigrants coming through and you put out 4 or 5 gallons of water?" he asked.

He pointed out that residents of the Tohono O'odham Nation often give food and water to immigrants in distress who come to their homes.

With summer approaching, Richard Saunders, Tohono O'odham police chief, predicts the death toll along the trail will soar.

"Based on all our intelligence and information, we anticipate this to be another record year," he said.

Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8312. Gannett News Service reporter Sergio Bustos contributed to this article.

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