Crossing with the Virgin is a collection of true life experiences from Mexican and Latin American people who have attempted to cross the deserts into the USA. The stories have been collected by Kathryn Ferguson, Norma Price and Ted Parks, who are all volunteers with the Samaritans, a humanitarian group that patrols the desert offering food, drink and medical help to people crossing over.
We are told that in the past ten years over 4 000 people have died while crossing the Arizona desert in search of jobs or to join family. The heartbreaking stories in this book show the lives behind the statistics. Mostly the stories are of the people who are lucky enough to survive the journey, though many of them are then sent back to their home country. However survival comes with a high price for many, severe medical conditions arising from dehydration, exposure and exhaustion.
Reading this book really makes the reader think about the injustice of USA Immigration policies (not that really we should single out the USA here, most countries treat illegal immigrants harshly). We need to find solutions, ways of treating people humanely if they want to come to our countries. After all, many of them want to do the jobs that we don't want to do. And if we look at history, aren't most of today's Americans descendents of the illegal immigrants who stole the land from the native Americans?
I won this book in a giveaway on Mover Mike's blog. Mike had reviewed the book as part of the Green Books Campaign. The book is printed in paper with a 30% post consumer waste content.
Crossing with the Virgin by Kathryn Ferguson, Norma A Price and Ted Parks published by University of Arizona Press.
2 comments:
I would quibble with the phrase "injustice of USA immigration policies" after all we deserve a secure border. Mexico is much, much harder on immigrants than we are. However, as I stated in my review, we must find a solution to the this problem that visits danger and heartache and death on people who simply want a better life.
This sounds like a book that I would find disturbing to read but would feel compelled to finish if I began reading it. I have a sister who lives in Arizona so I have heard much from another point of view.
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