If you saw someone drowning, would you try to save them? Would you first ask them if they were a US citizen? If they didn’t have proper documentation, would you consider their life less worthy of saving?
I believe that most people would try to save another human being if they saw them drowning in a canal, and I don’t think it would even occur to any of us to first verify citizenship or legal status before doing so.
But just because we don’t see people drowning in front of our faces doesn’t mean its not happening. And it doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do about it.
Over 500 people have drowned in the All-American Canal, which runs along the US/Mexico border and delivers water to San Diego County. Most of the deceased were migrating with their families from Mexico to the United States. In 1994, ten-year-old Alejandra drowned in the canal while trying to save her older sister. She was buried on her birthday.
More than a year ago, the Imperial Irrigation District approved the installation of new safety features, such as buoys, ladders and safety ridges, to make it easier for people trapped in the canal to get out. However, since the IID’s commitment to implement these safety measures in August 2008, no action has been taken and 17 more people have drowned in the canal.
In response, on Tuesday, November 17, immigrant rights activists dove into the canal to protest the failure of the IID to follow through on their promise. While in the canal, the activists strung up buoys to honor the dead and to draw attention to the County’s complicity in their deaths.
To value human life is to make no conditions on its preservation. The IID has a responsibility to uphold its promises and we as human beings with a political voice have a responsibility to use that voice to prevent the deaths of people in the very canal that brings us our water and thus nourishes our own lives.
Please call Brian Brady, Imperial Irrigation District General Manager, at (760) 339-9477 and Maureen Stapleton, San Diego Water Authority General Manager, at (858) 522-6600 and ask them to stop the drownings by installing safety features.
