In the Arizona desert, a race to help migrants who have just crossed the border

Last week, in the Arizona desert, north of the U.S. border with Mexico, a group of volunteers helped newly arrived immigrants connect with family and friends they had left behind in other parts of the world.

“(I am) in the United States, in the United States,” an Egyptian said excitedly to his loved ones via video call.

The migrants had crossed the border illegally hours earlier hoping to apply for asylum when they encountered U.S. officials. But volunteers found them first, huddled around the fire before dawn, wrapped in coats and towels against the cold night air.

“There is so much hope and excitement in their eyes,” said Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans (GVSS) volunteer Margaret Cofran.

“They are finally on American soil,” he said. Current Matt Galloway, who joined GVSS on this desert trip last week.

“This is a big day for them.”

View | Go to the desert to help immigrants on the dangerous border:

Volunteers met at 4 a.m. and traveled two hours across the desert in off-road vehicles loaded with food, water and medical supplies. They're not trying to get around the work of border patrol agents, but they're working on it. “Relieve suffering” From the immigrants, they offer food, advice or even simple kindness, such as paper and pens for children to draw.

They found this group of migrants at the beginning of a 15-kilometer gap in the border wall, a known drop-off point for criminals smuggling people to the border. These crossings have become a point of political tension in Arizona, a swing state that could play a decisive role in the impending US elections.

Arriving at dawn, the volunteers met 33 migrants from as far away as Egypt, Türkiye, Nepal and Cameroon. Many of them refused to share their full names with CBC, fearing their asylum claims or the repercussions for their families at home.

By the fire, a young woman was sitting on a milk crate, her four-year-old daughter sleeping on her lap. Through an interpreter, he gave his name as America and said they had left their home in Guanajuato, central Mexico, a week earlier. She said they left to escape violent gangs and were trying to contact her husband, who was already in the United States.

A 29-year-old Rwandan man said his three-week trip was “horrible… and a very difficult experience.” he said he ran away compulsory military service at home He will not share his name out of concern for his family's safety.

He said he never imagined taking this trip.

“You are leaving your loved ones,” he said. “You never know when you'll see them.”

Farmers say thousands cross their land

The migrants crossed to Jim Shelton's 50,000-acre ranch, which stretches along the border about nine miles south of Arivaca, Arizona.

“I have five motion-activated cameras… (and) I have obtained more than 3,550 photographs of people in camouflage clothing, carpeted shoes and backpacks since the election of (American) President Joe) Biden,” said Shelton, whose experiences in the border have earned the opportunity. Speech place in republican National conference in July.

Shelton has a bunch of those rug shoes, which were found neglected on his floor. They are slip-on shoes with a soft material sole that helps hide fingerprints. Shelton said officials have intercepted criminals crossing their land transporting drugs and weapons, and some of those encounters have been violent.

“I don't like the idea of ​​people coming through my farm to poison our people and take them to Canada,” he said, referring to drug trafficking and the fentanyl crisis.

Immigrants coming to seek asylum “don't bother me much,” Shelton said.

Biden initially promised a more welcoming approach to immigration when he was elected. But after monthly border encounters increased (reaching 249,741 last December), Biden imposed his imposition. New restrictions on asylum seekers in June. Those meetings decreased by 77 percent – to 58,038 people – in August, according to the Pew Research Center.

Democratic candidate Kamala Harris He visited Arizona last month, where I committed Tighten asylum laws enacted earlier this year, as well as crack down on drug trafficking.

Republican candidate Donald Trump said he would secure the border by completing the wall he began building in his first term and taking action. Mass deportation Of illegal immigrants.

Shelton said he is praying for Trump to win.

He added: “He will complete the construction of the wall, lay trenches and place the necessary personnel on the border.”

“People coming to the country should do so legally, not illegally.”

Cofran, the GVSS volunteer, believes the idea of ​​completing the wall is “ridiculous.”

“There is no way to completely close our borders unless you want to spend another $2 billion to do it, on the other side of the mountains,” he said.

He said most of the migrants he meets in the desert are families looking to start a new life and contribute.

“They have gifts to bring to our country and we have gifts to share with them,” he said. “America's definition of existence is diversity. And now we are locking that part of us away.”

Both parties participate in a “political theater”

Back in the desert, American officials arrive and organize the migrants into groups. América and her daughter climb into the back of the truck and are taken away to begin their asylum application.

Mark Gerrish, a border officer, installs a sign containing the emergency number that migrants can call if they need help. He is familiar with the work of GVSS and believes that “if people try to help others, it is generally a good thing.”

“(But) sometimes it gets complicated here,” he added. “Not everyone realizes the complexity; “They're trying to make it simpler than it already is.”

At 8 a.m., volunteers are packing up tables, stoves and coffee to return the next day.

Randy Meyer, who runs GVSS, says he finds it frustrating that he can't help with what lies ahead for these immigrants, some of whom could face deportation within days.

“Central Americans think immigration is bad for the United States and they think it's all about criminals,” said Mayer, a local church pastor.

“But the truth is that all these people are escaping very bad situations. “They should at least be given the opportunity to prove it.”

Meyer has done humanitarian work on the border for almost 30 years. He believes there isn't much difference in how Republicans or Democrats approach the problem, even if one candidate is more invested in solving it. “Ugly rhetoric.”

“Each administration has done more militarization, more agents, and then the next administration builds on that,” he said.

“It's just political theater,” he added. “It's not a solution to anything and it makes people's lives miserable.”

Meyer pointed out how dangerous it is to cross the Arizona desert. More than 4,300 people have died since 2000, and in the first eight months of 2024 the remains of 114 people were discovered who were allegedly trying to reach the border, according to the organization. Nonprofit Humanitarian Borders.

GVSS has saved thousands of lives over the years, but somehow these immigrants also saved theirs, Meyer said.

“My life has completely changed… my heart has softened,” he said.

“It showed me that compassion and love are a much more meaningful path than building walls and barriers and making the world revolve around me.”