Jonathan Thompson

Editor in Chief

This time of year can be especially beautiful down in the Sonoran Desert along the U.S. - Mexico border. The cactus are in bloom, streams sparkle in lush canyons where birds sing jungle melodies and the long scarlet fingers of the ocotillo in bloom seem to have been dipped in blood.

But there’s quite a bit of real blood out there, too. So writes Michael Marizco in a rather long feature in the most recent Tucson Weekly.

Goat has blogged on some of the killings already, when migrants were ambushed by murderous thugs and bandits. Marizco shows us that these weren’t just isolated events, but rather part of a pattern of violence and murder aimed towards migrants, cops and journalists and breaking out between drug traffickers. An anonymous source tells Marizco:

“The closer you get to the border, two things occur: The border is actually erased and becomes a new territory, and mass chaos exists. This is the primary reason that today’s trafficking has changed from storing or staging at the border. Instead, it makes its trek north and is immediately crossed, causing problems on our side.”

That seems to sum it up pretty well. Marizco also wrote about the border for High Country News last spring. Read those articles here and here.