I spent this past weekend in southern Arizona, working with a humanitarian group that provides water, food and dry socks to immigrants passing along the trails of the Sonoran desert.

I know the issue of immigrant crossing is not a popular one. And I know that most people feel that providing water to immigrants encourages, perhaps even entices them to cross the border.

But after my journey into this world of trekking through incredibly rough terrain to deliver water to people who are traveling through land that is so hard to navigate that we had to rely upon a seasoned guide with detailed trail maps and GPS, I realized that setting out these rudimentary supplies would NEVER encourage anyone to cross the border. I have lived in the Sonoran desert for over 20 years. I know how hot it gets and how much you rely upon water to survive. And I've always worked out and considered myself to be in decent shape. I've run a half marathon and numerous other races without so much as a sore muscle.

But this was different. This was real--carrying as much water as your back muscles could bear, feeling I was holding up my group whenever I had to stop for that extra sip of hydration, skinning my hands as I slipped on a rocky slope.

The journey from the Mexican border is at best 4 days, over mountainous terrain, rocky dry washes and thistled brush that tears at your skin. With the chances of dehydration, heat exhaustion, injury from a fall, and arrest--you know these people are desperate to get out. And after experiencing my weekend along the border, I know that humanitarian groups who supply life-saving measures are not encouraging immigrants to cross the border, they're only giving them one last hope.

Death Knows No Boundaries

Since 2006, 11,000 Mexican citizens have been murdered, with the majority of these deaths related to the dominace of drug cartels. The wave of violence has become so serious, that in February of 2009, a CNN article reported that Mexico is now spinning toward civil war.
Add in an economy in shambles (CNN also describes Mexico's financial structure as having "gone off a cliff"), and one doesn't have difficulty understanding why so many Mexicans are willing to risk their lives to cross the border into the United States.

While it is illegal to cross without first attaining the proper permission from authorities, I don't think it's a crime to want to live in a safe environment that gives opportunity and hope. And it is never a crime to provide humanitarian aid to a human in crisis.

The border fence was constructed as a strategy of deterrence. Officials believed that the incredibly harsh terrain, with its limited natural water sources, which immigrants funnel through would solve the border issue. 5,000 deaths later, immigrants are still risking their lives to come to this country.

With immigration reform being such a complex and volatile issue, it appears the border issue will not be solved any time soon. And with Mexico's poor economy and escalating violence, it seems unlikely that a resolution of illegal immigration is also not imminent. But what can, and must be stopped, are the needless deaths that can be prevented by distributing clean drinking water to border crossers. And what also must be stopped is giving littering tickets, which can carry severe penalties, to concerned U.S. citizens who are distributing life-saving water.

Three humanitarian aid groups, No More Deaths, Samaritans and Humane Borders have initiated a series of negotiations with the highest levels of the federal government to come to an agreement over this issue. Their mission is to convince officials at the Department of the Interior and Buenes Aires NWR that every effort will be made to remove any water bottles placed along border crossing trails, along with any additional items not native to the environment. More importantly, these humanitarian groups are hoping to convince officials that saving lives should never be considered a crime. Too many have died over this dipute already.

Doggone Drivers

Any of you have teenaged drivers? If so, do you feel they have the ability to pre-plan and react to sticky situations? Or is unleashing a newbie driver onto the open road akin to unleashing a dog onto a highway?

My daughter, after much hounding at me, got her driver's license last week. And this week, she got into her first accident--on the first day of driving without me in the car! She's 1 for 1, or I guess I should say 0 for 1.

In Sins of the Border, Lila's daughter, 15 year-old daughter, Ellory, likes to sit in the car, play her music and pretend she's driving. I wish I could say that my daughter was still pretending. But unfortunately I let loose this 5 foot, 85 pound driving machine onto the streets of Scottsdale. Actually, I should say she WAS set loose. For the next few months, I'm going to be co-piloting. I don't think Scottsdale is ready for my daughter. And I don't think she's solo ready either. At this point, I think I'd feel more comfortable with a pooch at the wheel.

Have you experienced similar driving incidents with your teens? Who has the better judgement, or dog or a 16 year-old girl?