The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands
Regan, a Tucson journalist, has compiled a compelling chronicle of the flow of migrants from northern Mexico into the “Tucson Sector” of Arizona, distilling the many facets of this phenomenon into an enlightening account. She focuses on one border crosser, 14-year-old Josseline Hernandez, who in January 2008, left with her younger brother in a group heading eventually to Los Angeles, where their mother was waiting. Ill from prolonged exposure, Josseline was left in the desert to die by her well-paid guide, or coyote. In exploring that death, and the nearly 1,600 other migrant deaths in the Arizona desert between 2001 and 2009, Regan interviews the Border Patrol, vigilantes, members of the human rights group No More Deaths, and Tohono O’odham tribal members, on whose land 83 bodies were found in 2007 alone. She also speaks with migrants, many of whom have tried multiple times to cross Arizona’s “killing field,” created when restrictions tightened around such border cities as El Paso. Regan doesn’t offer any solutions, but her brutally honest depiction should be read by those who will. --Deborah Donovan--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.