Mexican man hunt – a thought provoking bike ride on southern Arizona roads

January 29, 2010

This bike ride wasn’t what I bargained for. First, it’s far more beautiful in a very desolate sort of way than I expected. There are mountains everywhere the eye looks, rolling hills, mesquite  trees and cactus. There aren’t as many birds but perhaps that’s a function of how little is blooming in January. If you do see a bird it’s quite possibly a loggerhead shrike, a pyrrhuloxia, or a phainopepla, birds whose names suggest a different world than we’re used to.

The initial ride took us from Tucson, 70 miles south to Sasabe on the Mexican border. Once you’re well away from Tucson on the secondary highways one car in two is a border control car, and that’s 50 miles from the border. At the 25 mile mark there is a full border patrol checkpoint. Once you reach Sasabe the fence marking the US- Mexico border is on view for miles as are the cameras mounted on watch towers. The area is literally crawling with border control vehicles.

Yesterday had a different feel to it. The bike ride took us from Sasabe to Tubac, about 55 miles in total. There were the usual number of border vehicles but this ride was different. The landscape was littered with the meager belongings of the Mexicans. You’d see backpacks, items of clothing, scarves and beads. Well trodden paths and used water jugs were everywhere. So were the border guards. Every culvert and abandoned building was searched. Cars are pulled over and trunks are opened. And just when you think you’re home free there’s another border patrol stop.

One can’t help thinking about the plight of these Mexicans – not the drug running ones which are a different group, but the ones willing to risk it all  for a better life for themselves and their families. The human face gets lost in the politics. I know this is an extremely emotive subject especially for the taxpayers of Texas, Arizona and California. But, it’s a very human story too and unless you are devoid of any empathy it is hard to imagine walking in the shoes of the Mexican.

My hat goes off to the fortitude of the Mexicans who try. I know it’s illegal but as one human to another (versus aligning myself as a Democrat or Republican) I admire the courage to scale a 14 foot fence with nothing but a pack on your back, and then to deal with the harsh, unforgiving countryside full of snakes in the summer, and the fear that you’ll die of thirst or be caught.

I hope the great thinkers of the world can come up with a better long term solution than border fences. Today, with all the obstacles thrown in their way, there are still 120 Mexicans per day who get picked up in this small section of the US.

I’ll continue on my ride now, north to Tucson and I won’t stop thinking about what needs to change. I was very lucky to be born on the right side of the fence.

An interesting movie to rent to get another viewpoint is called ‘A Day Without a Mexican’.

Leigh McAdam

www.hikebiketravel.com

Posted by Hike Bike Travel | Filed Under Biking in North America - tips and tours, Hiking, backpacking and walking tips and tours 

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