Since I've become involved in Border Beat, not only do I feel like my reporting and multimedia skills have improved, but my awareness of the border truly rose to the surface.

Although I've lived so close to Mexico my whole life here in Arizona, I never really thought much or even really cared about border issues. I entered as a staff member of the publication without a real clue about what "border issues" even were, and had little sense of whom was really affected. Putting myself out there this semester - through reporting, discussing and blogging - for the first time ever, to me the border became less of a piece of land. For the first time in my life, I look at the border as home to many.

When I think I about the border now, I think about the people I have met from Mexico. I think about those that have crossed legally or illegally, putting their lives and money on the line and those that have family on the other side, who are unable to join them in U.S.

Six months ago, when I would consider the "culture" of the border, I'd think about the small businesses, the desertous landscapes and of course the food. Now, I think about the music produced by Mexican students in Mariachi Tesoro de Tucson, who pour there hearts out through instruments... in hopes to fully express the sounds of Latin America.

As I try to consider the "issues" surrounding the border, now I can only reminisce about the hundreds that came out to protest Michael Chertoff last month at the UA, those who screamed and waived signs to tear the wall down.

I also look at the students who attend Las Artes in South Tucson, the majority of whom have Mexico in their blood and unlike me, are bilingual. Their beautiful murals spot our city, Tucson, and fully portray the beauty of Mexican art through the colors and images.

When I first started this blog, I wanted to cover health issues. I wanted to talk about all the miscellaneous health problems and agencies that affected border communities. Now, I remember the 100s of children that come to Saint Andrew's Clinic monthly from all over Mexico, for their chance to receive free health services. These children's lives are changed through therapy, surgery and even the chance to see or hear for the first time in their lives.

Border Beat was more than just a reporting class. It was a lesson in history and news, and to me, an opportunity to learn about people. I have met so many; from children to elderly, teachers to doctors, Mexican and American. In the end, I really don't beleive a border can define us, but in the case of the Border Beat class, can really bring us together.

Issues involving the U.S.-Mexico border is highly prevalent today, however most people are not as informed about them as they probably should be.

The following is a list of useful websites that summarize border issues, agencies and resources:

Border and Immigration Issues

Border Studies Program

BBC News-'Vigilantes' set for Mexico border patrol

US Embassy Mexico City

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Border News

The Coalición de Derechos Humanos is a human rights organization headquartered in Tucson. The agency strives to promote justice and equality for humans - U.S. citizens or not - particularly in the Southern border region of the U.S. for over 30 years. Coalition members fight discrimination and injustice among law enforcement officials and work to end the increasing militarization of the border.

Their web site is particularly interesting - with a counter of all the bodies
recovered in the Sonoran desert each year. This year the number is at about 183.

People can get involved in the coalition by volunteering or attending some of their many events which include protests, movie screenings, awareness sessions and projects. Some projects in the past have been the Migrant Trail Walk in the summer of 2008 and the Bring Down the Walll campaign, started in 2003.

My favorite way to stay active is being part of the list-serve, which informs me about upcoming events and border-related news.

Thursday's outing to Saint Andrew's Children Clinic was quite the eye-opener, and no pun intended there.

I couldn't believe the services provided - from physical therapy, orthopedic care, audiology and optometry - the participating children were so lucky to receive this kind of medical attention.

But receiving the services isn't as easy as showing up, some families traveled from hours across Mexico, and some had to schedule their child's appointment months in advance.

Nidia Tinajero, 16, came from Hermosillo, Mexico, a three-hour drive away to receive orthopedic treatment for a rare disorder she has, Angelman Syndrome. Her mother scheduled her appointment six months in advance, a common situation the two have been in for about 10 years already, as Saint Andrew's is one of the only opportunities for Nidia to receive medical care, said her mother, Nidia Tinajero.

The volunteers that come to the clinic include doctors, University of Arizona medical students and interpreters.

Nidia has always seen the same doctor, Francisco Valencia, M.D., who works at at the Tucson Medical Center.

Unfortunately for Nidia, on Thursday she didn't come with X-rays, so her and Tinajero had to go to a local hospital to obtain them, and bring them back later in the afternoon to receive the services.

The clinic's busiest times occurred before noon Thursday, and things started to slow down afterwards. For families that couldn't get an appointment, there is always next month, on the first thursday.

Here in the U.S., getting medical services can be inconvenient, unpleasant and expensive. For some however, traveling across the border for attention is worth the drive.

"I got my teeth cleaned for $30," said Nogales native Zelida Hernandez, who goes back home from Tucson to receive dental work annually.

And $30 is quite a steal, some might agree. Especially for Shantel Spencer's cousins, who have gotten all of their braces and miscellaneous dental work done for free on the Navajo reservation in Gallup, NM.

Spencer says that all health care is inexpensive on reservations, because of treaty agreements through the U.S. government.

"It's an obligation of the government to provide health care to Navajo people," she said.

Though it might not be the most, "quality," health care, Spencer said, it's still readily available when needed.

As a kid Spencer's family had to rely on Indian health care because her family didn't have medical insurance. One time she remembers waiting for six hours in the reservations emergency room and almost fainting.

"They want to give residents quality medical attention, but it's hard sometimes because there aren't enough doctors," she said.

Perlita Rojas also travels back to her home in Nogales for doctor's appointments to save money. It might take 45 minutes to get there, but she can't resist saving the money, she said.

In Mexico, Rojas said, every resident has access to the universal health care plan.

U.S. citizens can benefit from health care on the border, and though they may not receive the deal that Mexico citizens do, the prices are substantially cheaper, and many offices even accept U.S. insurance.

"And the health care is high-quality and abundant in Nogales," Hernandez said, "I am lucky to be able to receive it."

People living in border communities may not know about the Border Health Foundation, 3365 N. Campbell Ave.

They focus to educate and help "at-risk", low-income communities around the U.S., particularly neighborhoods on our U.S.-Mexico borders.

The staff at the organization especially strive to inform residents on abstinence, tobacco awareness, HIV prevention and proper diet through different programs:

Their Copper Basin Food Pantry serves over 14,000 people annually and provides food, financial assistance and nutrition classes to people in need of these services.

¡Tu Puedes! Prevention Program is designed to educate people ages 18 to 24 years old on tobacco awareness and prevention through communal activities, projects and support groups.

The Senderos Project (Abstinence Education) delivers information to migrant families and parents by looking at cultural and language factors. The adolescents targeted are between 12 and 18 years old. Information sessions are held in schools, churches, day camps and implemented through school curriculum.

Besides having an emphasis on the Latino population, the foundation also reaches out to Native Americans, African Americans, Pacific Islanders and Asian Pacific Islanders.

What is the thing called health? Simply a state in which the individual happens transiently to be perfectly adapted to his environment. Obviously, such states cannot be common, for the environment is in constant flux.
~ -H. L. Mencken

According to medical examiner reports from Pima, Yuma and Cochise County, 183 bodies have been recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border from Oct. 1, 2007 to Sept. 31, 2008. One hundred and eight of these bodies were unidentified.

These people are believed to have been from Mexico and as far away as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Peru.

Last year's total, according to spokespeople from Coalición de Derechos Humanos, was 237. The number this year is lower, but, "factors do not clearly indicate that this is a total decline in the overall deaths on the border... as the numbers of bodies recovered in neighboring states are not available."

The Binational Migration Institute suggests that the "Funnel Effect," is a reason patterns of flow regarding migration are changing.

The Funnel Effect - implemented in the mid-90s - is a “prevention through
deterrence” approach to immigration control, according to an Immigration Policy Brief from the American Immigration Law Foundation.

The Funnel Effect has resulted in:

- "Militarization" of the border
- New border barriers
- Reinforce checkpoints and more techincal forms of surveillance
- Implementation of thousands additional Border Patrol agents

Kat Rodriquez, coordinator of Derechos Humanos discussed in a press release her feelings about border deaths as they are related to the above issues:

"What we are seeing with these tragic annual figures are the direct effects of border militarization and immigration policies. As more and more of these men, women and children are out there for a long periods of time before being found, their families must continue to suffer the pain of not knowing what has become of their loved one."

Of the final body count, according to the immigration report, 59 percent were unidentifiable. This could be because not enough of the body was recovered or other barriers that inhibited DNA testing.

The drug cartel crisis currently going on in Nogales has gotten such little U.S. press that I can't help but write about it.

The conflict has been going on since about 2005 between the two drug selling organizations, the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels, whom are fighting for control of the Sonoran-Arizona border, which is highly desired among drug smugglers. The fighting has become more violent, with more law enforcement and political leaders being killed by means of gunfire and even beheadings.

I asked Zelida Hernandez from Nogales, Mexico, whom now lives in Tucson, to take me to her home town one weekend. She replied that she can't because she doesn't even feel safe going back there right now. Not only that, but every day her father crosses the border from Nogales, Ariz. to Mexico and she fears for his life, as he is a prominent figure in Nogales and even she is in danger, because people know she is related to him.

Last Sunday, Oct. 5 marked the 71st homicide this year involving people in the drug cartel "war." This number already surpasses the deaths in 2007 - which totalled about 52 - according to the Arizona Daily Star.

But calling it a war, to some Mexicans, is not politically correct.

"This is not a war," said Perlita Rojas, 21, from Nogales, Mexico, "It's a community instability." Rojas explained that just walking around the city can be life threatening, and she often fears going back home to visit her parents.

Targeted victims are getting shot with AK-47s, said Hernandez and the murderers don't care who's around to go down with them. Recently a political leader and his young daughter were shot in his car, and cartel leaders will shoot into crowds of people in order to find their victim.

Hernandez recently heard news that her friend's husband was shot to death Oct. 3 as a result of the conflict.

It's really horrible, Hernandez said, and we don't know when it will be over.

The Mariposa Community Health Center promotes proper health and care to those on the Arizona-Sonora border. It is one of the largest health care providers on the border, and the 5th of it's kind in Arizona!

According to the website, the health center provides the following services:

· Adult & Family Medicine
· Chronic Care Model
· Pediatrics
· Ob/Gyn
· Dental
· Behavioral Health
· Pharmacy
· Community Programs
· Public Health Programs

The center is comprised of a diverse, highly-qualified staff whom almost all speak Spanish as well as English. It is also not-for-profit.

I think it's awesome that there are people out there whom dedicate their lives to solving healthcare disparities, and choose to spend their time on the border to help those in need.

Dentistry is especially hard to come by in border regions, and at the clinic, electronic dental record systems - implemented in 2005 - "support clinical practice with digital radiology, enhanced treatment planning and patient education," according to staff members.

Mariposa has locations in Rio Rico, Nogales and Patagonia Arizona.

For it's services, Mariposa Community Health Center has been widely-recognized by the U.S./Mexico Border Health Commission and the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers.

Staff members continue to strive for excellence and provide it's patients with convenient, personal and effective health care every day.

It's fascinating yet baffling how Diabetes unequally affects minorities, especially in the Hispanic population. The American Diabetes Association indicates that the disease is indeed more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

People are fighting to solve the disparity, and students in the University of Arizona's Public Health Department have actually started to make a dent.

"Defeating Diabetes Through Dance and Diet" was developed by Sunnyside School District's Challenger Middle School to promote awareness of Diabetes and help fight it for those whom already have it, through nutrition and exercise. Type-2 Diabetes was the more common form found among the students.

UA Masters student Ada Dieke took charge when she found out about the program.

"If there was any program that incorporated so many aspects that I’d like to include in my career, this was it," Dieke said in an article written for the UA's Center for Health Equality.

According to the Diabetes Association, "People with diabetes have to take extra care to make sure that their food is balanced with insulin and oral medications, and exercise to help manage their blood glucose levels."

Dieke joins with the students when they meet after school once a week and take hip-hop classes or have dietary lessons which involves cooking.

People with pre-diabetes have impaired fasting glucose (IFG), which increases the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. According to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2003-2006 among Americans over the age of 20, IFG was prevelant in 21.1 percent non-Hispanic African Americans, 25 percent for non-Hispanic Caucasians and 26.1 percent for Mexican Americans.

Looking at these statistics, among more, really makes me question why exactly these disparities exist, and what can we do to solve them?

Project Amor

It pleases me to know that the Hispanic heritage in Tucson is widely recognized, especially by non-profit health services.



Project Amor was founded about 40 years ago, by the father of a child with Down Syndrome. He was inspired after he realized what a struggle it was to find care and services for his kid, because no agency spoke Spanish.

The organization now only hires bilingual people, and according to Program Directly Shea-Lynn Tourney, out of the current 147 families involved in Project Amor, 53 percent are Spanish-speaking.


That's what makes the program unique, Tourney said.


Project Amor reaches out to children with developmental and often times cognitive disabilities, and provides services about once a week for an hour over a course of three to six months, or in some cases years until the child is ready to be discharged from the program. One child has been with the organization for nine years already.


Some of these services include coordinating case management duties, such as speech therapy, physical therapy and nutritional consulting. The staff members at Project Amor provide the early intervention services directly. The staff members are highly-trained in child development, and show parents strategies to help their children develop where needed, such as in muscle tone. All of this is done in the child's, "natural environment," whether it be their home or their day-care center.


"But it's not what happens when we're there that hour," Tourney said, "It's the hours in between." The staffers figure out what the parent's lifestyles are like, and create a plan for them to help their children without it interrupting their lives.


Project Amor holds events throughout the year to reward their families for active involvement in the program and with their children. This Saturday will be the United Way Days of Caring event, where volunteering companies will give bags of food to the families.


A lot of the parents like to come to the events to see the older children there as well.


"They like to see older kids and think, 'will mine be like that someday?'" said Tourney.

ICE Will Always be COLD!!

Straying from the topic for one post, I would like to discuss an experience I had the other day while working at the Pima County Jail, that really got me thinking about border issues.

A 19-year-old man was booked in for a class-1 misdemeanor of refusing to give his truthful name. I called him up (by the name on the booking sheet) to join me for a chat, and noticed that with a completely empty criminal record, he was eligible for release at that time. The boy had large, innocent brown eyes and a baby face that practically made me melt. He wore a black t-shirt, a pair of 80s style looking basketball shoes, and loose fitting jeans that hung attractively from his waste. I couldn't stop looking into his eyes.

When asking his social security number, he indicated he did not have one, and with a childish, nervous giggle subseqently informed he was an illegal immigrant. He indicated he has lived on and off with his mom in Tucson for 15 years, and had been there most recently for six months, after coming back from a deportation.

I asked him if he would go to court if he were to be released right then, and he reported, "No, I am going to get deported."

According to a court clerk, during any judicial proceeding at the Pima County Justice Court, all immigration issues are left at the door, and it is not enforced nor checked up on in any manner. I let my new friend know this, and assured him he would be OK if he went to court to take care of this charge, and would actually be on better terms with the government and the Immigration and Naturalization Service for going and not letting a warrant issue for his arrest.

He stared back at me, shaking, and told me he would attend. For one of the few times in my "release history" per se, I truly, truly believed him.

So we filled out paperwork, I set him a court date, and told him everthing would be OK. Though I wasn't quite positive I was allowed to post-release an illegal immigrant, I figured he had stable housing here with his mother and if he was going to get deported, it would happen eventually released right now or not. He was so greatful, repeatedly thanked me and sat back down.

Right as he took a seat in the intake pit, an INS agent came to the edge of the pit and the room went silent. The inmates stared as the officer called two names, and my defendant was one of them. I saw his face turn white, as he gave the officer his name... and the agent went to the booking unit to possibly place an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold on him.

If the hold went through, the boy would be shipped back to Mexico within the evening. My co-workers and I were all pretty sure that would be case.

While I finished my shift, the kid sat on the cold, concrete benches with his head buried in his hands. He occasionally glared up at me with a look that said, "How could this happen?"
I felt so bad, his mom was expecting him home that night (we had called her earlier to let her know what was going on). Who knew when they'd see each other again.

It was an upsetting experience, and I can't seem to get it off my mind. At the same time though, I have a feeling he'll find his way back here, soon enough.

While playing with the idea of the Nogales Unified School District's opportunities for sex-education among its elementary, middle and high schools... I predicted that the classes were very limited to whom they were offered, and what was in the curriculum. An NUSD liaison informed me that there actually is no sex-ed available to the students in the district, yet the idea was considered a while back.

Though sex-ed can be a hot topic among parents, religiously and politcally charged citizens, looking at the rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases along the border makes me wonder if a sex-ed-free campus is a good one.

Additionally, I am happy to say that there is a multitude of organizations that focus on the issues noted above, and target the border's youth. According to a report by the Arizona Department of Health Services and U.S. Mexico Border Health Commission, the following are just a few of these programs:

Summer Youth Institute-Mariposa Community Health Center- An eight-week program that trains Nogales teens to become health facilitators in areas of physical activity, nutrition, HIV, tobacco and injury protection.

Healthy Baby Training-March of Dimes-Training sessions for those working in border communities or with Hispanic populations to inform pregnant women and teens on healthy birth outcomes.

Patagonia School Nurse Project: Provides education to the students and families at Patagonia School on how to obtain health care. Not only this, but the project offers information on how to receive immunizations, prevent injuries and infectious diseases, and promotes maternal, infant and children's health.

The increasing concern for the youth's health along the border should be put at ease, as there are more and more options to solve some of the common problems. I know that when it comes to sex-ed, people have differing opinions that can be proven right or wrong. As long as more people come together to provide the proper education on the issues, and the citizens are aware of these opportunities, we can't complain too much.

An Introduction

Health on the Line will cover topics and issues involving public health in border communities. Not only will I touch on controversial matters, such as sex-ed in public schools and high rates of disorders and illnesses, but I will explore what the people in these cities are doing to improve the overall health and well-being of their citizens, and what people outside the border can do as well.