Mexican Migrant Maps

A weblog for members of the Canadian Cartographic Association and other individuals interested in all things cartographic

Published Tuesday, January 24, 2006 by CCAer | E-mail this post

According to CNN, a Mexican government commission will distribute 70,000 maps “showing highways, rescue beacons and water tanks in the Arizona desert to curb the death toll among illegal border crossers.” The commission is denying that such a move would encourage illegal immigration to the United States but others are not so convinced. The maps were designed by Tuscon, Arizona-based Humane Borders whose site hosts a number of border-related maps, including ones that mark the location of water stations and migrant deaths.

2 Responses to “Mexican Migrant Maps”

Anonymous on 12:44 AM

There's good news and bad news, here. Among the bad news is that handing out such maps DOES encourage people to try entering the U.S. illegally, more people may die because they place too much faith in these maps, and not just economic migrants are likely to use the information.

The good news is that the border patrol and others will have a clearer idea (at least initially) where illegals are more likely to enter the country and the routes they will most likely take, and those who actually take the dangers seriously are more likely to be sufficiently prepared for the distances and their physical needs during such an attempt. Also, we now know better than ever before that there are elements in the Mexican government that really are not our friends at all.

The feedback loop this will produce will be interesting. The most dangerous illegals (terrorists, drug runners, etc.) may avoid the routes taken by economic illegals, separating the comparatively innocent from the far from innocent. The dangerous ones already have good maps, so I don't see this helping them all that much, unless they are trying to blend into the economic illegal traffic.
Anonymous on 5:00 AM

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