Abstract
Over 3000 people are estimated to have died while crossing the border in the Sonoran Desert region since the late 1990s (humaneborders.org). This chapter looks at the challenge of protecting human rights in protected border areas. There is an interesting disparity in the case of Cabeza Prieta: supplemental water is provided for wildlife, but not for humans. Humanitarian aid groups must work within wilderness regulations, which can present a challenge to providing life-saving water to undocumented border-crossers. I conclude the chapter with a discussion of the language used to describe undocumented immigrants. I argue that language can affect perceptions of undocumented immigrants, ultimately dehumanizing border-crossers.
Portions of this chapter were published in the Journal of Human Rights. Reprinted with permission. Meierotto (2015) Human Rights in the Context of Environmental Conservation on the U.S.-Mexico Border, Journal of Human Rights, 14(3), 401–418.
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Notes
- 1.
The original article has been removed from the EPA’s website. It is archived at https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-southwest_.html.
- 2.
It is important to note that the state is not the same as a private landowner. Rather the state has a set of responsibilities it is required to maintain wilderness areas.
- 3.
At the time of publication, the remaining volunteers had not yet been sentenced.
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Meierotto, L. (2020). Human Rights in Border Conservation: Access to Water at Cabeza Prieta. In: Immigration, Environment, and Security on the U.S.-Mexico Border. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31814-7_5
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