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TouchOfGray

(82 posts)
Sun Jul 8, 2012, 02:11 PM Jul 2012

Arizona ranked 3rd in U.S. for unidentified human remains

And we are only behind California and New York, both states with 30+ million populations with our 6 or so million.

Arizona's border with Mexico has been crossed illegally by thousands of immigrants in recent years, and those dangerous desert treks have earned the state a dubious distinction: the third highest number of unidentified human remains in the country.

A federal database tracking such information places Arizona's open caseload of 1,057 human remains behind only California and New York. Some cases date back several decades.

Government officials say the reason is clear: the high number of those who die attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border through Arizona's remote deserts.


http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/20120708arizona-unidentified-human-remains.html

But try to get a little funding from our State government to help identify these lost souls and give the families some peace.

Nope, too busy asking for papers for that. And woe be to anyone who attempts to provide water and directions to the folks, THAT can result in arrest!

Edit to add: Notice the AzRepublican has closed comments for this article, even they would be embarrassed by the inevitable racist remarks.

3 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Arizona ranked 3rd in U.S. for unidentified human remains (Original Post) TouchOfGray Jul 2012 OP
the treck is so harsh Kali Jul 2012 #1
I disagree... mvccd1000 Jul 2012 #2
It is probably very difficult. bluedigger Jul 2012 #3

Kali

(55,014 posts)
1. the treck is so harsh
Sun Jul 8, 2012, 02:21 PM
Jul 2012

when I read bigots commenting about doing it legally or how they have it so easy sneaking in here and stealing jobs and services it makes me want to load them in a stock trailer and dump their racist asses out in the middle of the desert.

and the very worst part? I've seen the same wingnut comments from long-time DUers so...welcome to DU and don't let jerks like that put you off!

mvccd1000

(1,534 posts)
2. I disagree...
Mon Jul 9, 2012, 12:29 AM
Jul 2012

... with a portion of your post. Before I get to that, though, let me preface my comment by saying that 1) there is clearly a demand for a lot of immigration and even migrant labor, so 2) the government needs to get off its but and fix the broken system. Our economy does not work without immigrants, so we need to make it possible for people to come here - legally. That's our responsibility and we've screwed it up mightily.

Having said that, the current (worthless, screwed-up) laws that we have make it illegal to make that trek across the desert to avoid border crossings. I don't see where this state, which has a lot of places it NEEDS to spend money (health care, education, transportation), should be spending our tax dollars to try to track down the identity of people who sneak in, probably with no ID of any type on their person and then have the misfortune to die in the process.

Here's the part of your post to which I refer:

But try to get a little funding from our State government to help identify these lost souls and give the families some peace.




Welcome to DU, by the way.

bluedigger

(17,086 posts)
3. It is probably very difficult.
Mon Jul 9, 2012, 05:08 PM
Jul 2012

Without ID they could be from anywhere in Mexico or Central America. Trying to find and match dental records could be a daunting task, if they even exist... Many, if not most, have probably not even been reported as missing in their home country. It is tragic.

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