Rescue Towers to Help Migrants Near Border

Los Angeles Daily News | 05-23-2002 | A.P.

[boris]

MONTERREY, Mexico --The Mexican government is erecting solar-powered rescue towers that will glow in the night to help migrants lost in the desolate stretches of the Mexico-U.S. border, the director of the National Institute of Migration announced Wednesday.

Felipe de Jesus Preciado, speaking in Mexico City, said the100-foot-high towers will be visible from up to 6 miles away.

The stations will be equipped with information for locating water, food and shade. The units will offer maps to help migrants orient themselves and tell rescue authorities where they are. Mexico's rescue squad, Grupo Beta, will check the towers every two hours, Preciado said.

Since the U.S. Border Patrol started watching the 2,000-mile border more closely in the past decade, more than 300 illegal migrants have died each year while attempting to cross -- most from exposure or drowning.

The first of 10 towers will be erected in the municipality of Altar, Mexico, across from the remote deserts of Arizona, the current hot spot for illegal border crossers.

Mexican officials also will be meeting with their U.S. counterparts this week in Tucson, Arizona, to share information on better ways to save migrants who have run into trouble.

The U.S. Border Patrol has been working on water-rescue training and equipping vehicles with lifesaving gear and emergency provisions.

[FreePaul]

Good for Mexico. I think that we should reciprocate by erecting similar towers to aid spotting and arresting the illegals coming across the border. This should aid the INS in capturing and returning these criminals to their native country.

[skeeter]

How compassionate. I wonder if they'll do the same for illegals on their southern border.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

Mexico is just trying to encourage its problems to go north.

[Salman]

How compassionate. I wonder if they'll do the same for illegals on their southern border.

Illegals on Mexico's southern border typically are only passing through.

[skeeter]

Illegals on Mexico's southern border typically are only passing through.

True, and those who bring enough graft to make the local authorities happy are usually allowed on thru. The rest don't fare so well.

[3AngelaD]

Great. Now all we have to do is closely monitor their rescue towers. This should make it much easier to track illegals on their way here. It's amazing that the Mexican government and Grupo Beta didn't go all the way and give them global positioning units and a week's supply of tacos and tequila.

[Dakmar]

I'm surprised Mexico isn't arming them. Never know when their campadres will run across a silly gringo trying to protect his property.

[robertpaulsen]

"But knowbody else will take these jobs", they tell us.

Not entirely correct. What they mean to say is, "Nobody else will take these jobs for what we're willing to pay them". Pay field workers $30. per hour plus benefits plus time and a half for overtime and you'll find plenty of American citizens willing to do the work.

But won't that drive up the price of goods? Of course. But then I could make the same argument that permitting illegals to work on the assembly lines in Detroit for minimum (or sub-minimum) wage would drive down the price of cars.

[ObfusGate]

Why just towers? Why not go all the way and just build light rail?

[boris]

"But knowbody else will take these jobs",

Well, only the jobs of people who can't spell.

--Boris

[TheBattman]

Yet another ping!

[archy]

Time to put out the welcome mat...

Welcome, invaders:

[archy]

I'm surprised Mexico isn't arming them. Never know when their campadres will run across a silly gringo trying to protect his property.

They have been.

-archy-/-

[3AngelaD]

Because adobe doesn't work well for light rail.