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GUEST: Raquel Rubio Goldsmith, Coordinator of the Binational Migration Institute at the University of Arizona

Nearly 200 hundred bodies have been recovered this year on the Arizona-Mexico border according to Tuscon based human rights group, Derechos Humanos. This most recent figure brings the total number of recorded deaths on the border to 5,000 since the group began collecting data. As the number of immigrant men, women and children dying on the border gains national media attention, the Department of Homeland Security has announced a series of reforms in order to “address border security and immigration challenges.” Despite increasing evidence that suggests such strategies directly correlate with border deaths, Homeland Security continues to affirm its intentions to stay the course on these policies. The department is planning to add an additional 18,000 Border Patrol agents, 370 miles of fencing, 300 miles of vehicle barriers, 105 camera and radar towers, and three additional unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at a cost that is estimated to be in the billions of taxpayer dollars. These plans will be in addition to the $30 billion dollars spent so far to “secure the border.”

For more information, visit www.derechoshumanosaz.net