I can still see some of those faces, dirty and exhausted and really, just about done in. Perched on the edge of the couch or drinking boiling hot water from the hose in the front yard.
I would always try to have chocolate and real orange juice on hand. I'd make them cheese sandwiches and fill up their water jugs with ice and water. I'd also keep small bottles of water frozen so they would thaw as they walked, giving them cold water.
People have no idea how many Border Patrol there are around Tucson. I can remember seeing the Border Patrol trucks go by and once, one followed me on the dirt road when I had four illegals in the car with me. If he had stopped me, I would have ended up in jail.
Several times, I drove them into town to the bus stop. And 2-3 times, drove them all the way to Eloy, a farming community north of Tucson, where they had jobs waiting in the fields.
They always wanted to pay for the help and would have money in plastic baggies in their shoe.
Once, driving into Tucson on Ajo, I picked up a family. It was one of the extremely hot summers in the 80s and they just about couldn't walk another step. I stopped at a Circle K and got hot dogs, candy bars and water for each of them. They recognized the Border Patrol HQ on Ajo just inside Tucson. They had a map with a destination on the Tohono O'odom reservation south of Tucson, so I took them there. It was a tiny adobe house and people poured out to welcome their family members.
The saddest was when the sheriff was holding three in my front yard, waiting for Border Patrol to come get them. They were sitting on the ground, under the tree, totally exhausted, very near complete collapse. The deputy misunderstood, saying he was sorry but they'd get them out of my yard as soon as they could. I made flavored coffee for them, hot and sugary and one of them kissed my hand.
I would always tell them, Via con Dios when we parted.
Some of them walk for weeks and weeks. Most of the women are raped - I've read that its more than 80%
Sometime ago, there was an article in the AZ Daily Star about what happens to the body when you die of dehydration. It must be a real horror - very painful. The illegals themselves would find bodies of others who didn't make it.
How desperate must someone be to leave everything they know and love to risk it all?