Humane Borders to hold conference on the migrant in March 2007

Posted by Elena del Valle on February 28, 2007

A water station near the U.S.-Mexico border

Photo: Humane Borders

Humane Borders representatives want to expand the public and decision makers’ understanding of Mexican migration into Arizona. To further this goal they will gather to discuss, review, and share migration information during a five-day conference scheduled to include several movie screenings, a field trip to Sonora, Mexico and a full day in the dessert. The 2007 International Conference on the Migrant, the first one organized by Humane Borders, will take place March 26-29, 2007 in Tucson, Arizona.

Participants will have an opportunity to obtain first hand experience about migration issues in Arizona, hear about U.S. responses to migration, listen to Mexican perspectives and learn about actual migration challenges. Organizers promise presentations by Mexican and Arizona government officials, a medical examiner, humanitarian groups, federal land managers, and academics.The cost of admission, including a field trip and meals, is $350 or $200 for the first two days.

Humane Borders is a faith based nonprofit organization established in 2000 by Reverend Robin Hoover. Humane Borders offers humanitarian assistance through more than 70 emergency water stations on and near the U.S.-Mexican border. Every week, hundreds of the organization’s volunteers, including 60 trained drivers, head out to the desert. They maintain water stations, refill water barrels, pick up discarded items and report vandalism.