As the Border Patrol has sealed the city, migrants have more often needed to journey far across the desert, says Grania Marcus, a member of Frontera de Cristo, a Presbyterian group that advocates for more humane treatment.
Three thousand immigrants have died in the desert over the last decade, Marcus said. Each Tuesday at sunset, the group chants and prays as it lays crosses with the names of dead immigrants on the Pan American Highway that leads to the Douglas Port of Entry.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday August 30, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 44 words Type of Material: Correction
Arizona border town -- A photo caption that accompanied an article in Friday's Section A about undocumented border crossers in Douglas, Ariz., incorrectly described the location of a U.S. Border Patrol supervisor. The supervisor was standing in a drainage pipe, not a drainage ditch.
Douglas' residents generally do not support illegal immigration but are sympathetic to impoverished Mexicans and Central Americans who seek U.S. jobs. Their views are also moderated by the town's close economic relationship with Mexico.
In October, Wal-Mart opened a supercenter a few hundred yards from the border. On any given day, about a third of the vehicles in the parking lot have license plates from the Mexican state of Sonora. The Wal-Mart even accepts pesos.
"We come here almost every day," said Jesus Carlos Batista, an 11-year-old from Agua Prieta who had come to the Wal-Mart with his mother in the family's Chevrolet Suburban. "I like the American chocolates."
Jesus attends a Catholic school in Douglas, commuting from the Mexican side with his brother and sister. Many of his schoolmates are also Mexican nationals who cross the border legally every day.
Despite the strong bonds between residents of Douglas and Agua Prieta, most on the U.S. side clearly do want stricter border control.
"I have many Hispanic friends, and they are upset about this too," said Kelly Savage, who lives outside of town. "The Border Patrol is constantly around my house. I know there are illegals out there too. It is a personal privacy issue.
"The problem is with the Mexican government," she added. "If they could provide better for their people, they wouldn't be streaming across the border."
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Hot spot
Douglas, Ariz., is in the U.S. Border Patrol's busiest gateway for illegal immigration.
Apprehended
Entire southwest border with Mexico
- Oct. '03-Sept. '04: 1,030,718
- Oct. '04-Aug. '05: 1,048,062
Tucson sector
- Oct. '03-Sept. '04: 446,479
- Oct. '04-Aug. '05: 400,550
Yuma sector
- Oct. '03-Sept. '04: 85,627
- Oct. '04-Aug. '05: 124,624
El Paso sector
- Oct. '03-Sept. '04: 94,214
- Oct. '04-Aug. '05: 108,680
Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Graphics reporting by Julie Sheer
