Marc’s Blog

 

With immigration reform legislation floundering and the status of millions of people who reside illegally in this country still undecided, we thought it would be an appropriate time to have another show where we hear directly the voices of immigrations, documented and undocumented. We'll be hearing from Ruben Chandrasekar, an immigrant from South India, who lives here in Baltimore and works for the American Friends Service Committee.  He works on immigration issues, so he can speak not just about his own experiences but also those of people he helps everyday.  Also, Luis, who is an undocumented immigrant from Guatamala.  He came here to try and make enough money to help his mother escape an abusive relationship.  I'm a big fan of getting all the facts...which is why when we have shows on immigration we've heard from people who can talk about how it can effect schools, hospitals, the economy, how long it will take an ambulance to get to your house.  But part of the facts we need to gather is also why people come here, under what circumstances, and what will happen if they are denied a path to citizenship or if the legal route into this country is made more difficult.  I hope you enjoy it.

-Jessica

We've got a huge two hour special on immigration for you today.  We begin with a look at the history of social attitudes towards immigration in America.  We'll be joined by Daniel Tichenor, professor of political science at Rutgers and the author of two books on immigration.  He'll talk about how this current ruckus over immigration is nothing new-that the American collective freaks out about immigration every few decades or so. Then, a good ole fashioned debate with Matthew Spaulding of The Heritage Foundation and Flavia Jimenez of the National Council of La Raza.  We'll talk about the immigration reform legislation currently being considered by Congress.  Does this bill make anyone happy? In the second hour, we are going to take a look at the epicenter of illegal immigration-the Arizona-Mexican border.  I was shocked to learn while researching this show that an average of 300 bodies are found in southern Arizona alone each year.  The bodies of course are of border crossers who set out on foot and were killed by exposure to the elements, or who were abandoned by their "coyotes".  We'll hear from Mike Wilson, a member of the Tohono O'odham Indian Nation who operates water stations for border crossers on the land of his reservation, and Reverend Robin Hoover, the founder and director of Humane Borders, who operates 86 water stations on public land.  They see this whole debate in terms of a humanitarian crisis.  We'll also be joined by Ignacio Barraza, the mayor of Nogales, Arizona.  Nogales is Arizona's largest border town. The image below is the warning map for border crossers that Humane Borders created for Nogales.  Border towns have a lot of challenges to deal with beyond just dealingwith a constant influx of people, many of whom need medical attention.  There are other things that come across the border-drugs and arms to name a few.  Those things bring with them a criminal element that those border towns have to deal with.   It's not easy.  You could argue that these border towns offer a hint of how towns hundreds of miles away from the border, all across the country, will be affected if we don't figure something out.  Also joining us will be Joseph Mathew.  He is the director of a documentary called Crossing Arizonathat explores the reality of life along the Arizona-Mexico border.  His film profiles politicians, activists, and militia leaders all struggling with their own ideas about what to do regarding illegal border crossers.  I hope you enjoy it!

-Jessica Phillips

The red dots indicate recovered bodies.  The blue flags indicate water stations operated by Humane Borders.