 | Crossing with the Virgin: Stories from the Migrant Trail Subjects: Illegal aliens -- Mexican-American Border Region; Humanitarian assistance -- Mexican-American Border Region; Border crossing -- Mexican-American Border Region; United States -- Emigration and immigration -- Social aspects; Mexico -- Emigration and immigra; In this gut-wrenching collection of true stories, authors Price, Parks, and Ferguson provide an eyes-on-the-ground look at illegal immigration in Arizona. The three Tuscon residents are members of the "Samaritans," volunteers who patrol the Arizona desert, in opposition to law-enforcing Border Patrol, offering water and medical assistance to Mexican workers crossing illegally to find work. The journey is physically grueling-daytime temperatures on the desert floor can reach 130 degrees-but the bureaucratic challenges are daunting, too: "Operation Streamline,' a Border Patrol policy, selects one hundred migrants a day to prosecute as criminals." Besides the risk of pain and death, each migrant worker's quest means the separation of families, perhaps permanently. The reality is that emergency medical care is the only thing that saves sick or injured migrants making the trip; the subject of one story had half his foot snapped off in a railcar and spent seven nights stranded in the desert before finally finding (temporary) solace at the clinic where Price, a physician, volunteers. Trading off chapters, the authors deliver immigrants' stories calmly and objectively, but their compassionate message is clear, and especially timely in light of Arizona's controversial new immigrant laws. Though difficult to read, this important collection provides vital, humanizing perspective on a divisive issue, with stories that will stick with readers for a long time. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved Kathryn Ferguson is a dancer, choreographer, and independent filmmaker. She studied modern and ethnic dance and music in the U.S., Morocco, and Cairo, and teaches dance at her studio in Tucson, Arizona. She has produced and directed two feature length award-winning documentaries, The Unholy Tarahumara and Rita of the Sky , and worked in media for PBS KUAT-TV for four years. Since the year 2004, she has volunteered with Samaritans to work on the desert to prevent deaths. Norma A. Price graduated from the University of Tennessee school of Medicine in Memphis, Tennessee, where she also completed internship and residency in Internal Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Hematology. Subsequent Oncology fellowships at M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas, and Emory University Hospital and Clinic in Atlanta, completed her medical training. She remains committed to the work of Samaritans and other humanitarian and activist groups that focus on border issues. Ted Parks became involved with the Samaritan movement in the fall of 2005. He worked in the restaurant industry for twenty years including eight years as the owner of a restaurant in Tucson, Arizona. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and has appeared in numerous film and television roles. A founding member of The Theatre of N.O.T.E. he attended the University of California, Irvine and has produced, directed or acted in well over fifty plays. He has written or co-written three plays, numerous short stories and a novel. |
