Arizona County Seeks to Renew $30,000 Contract for Migrant Water Services

Pima County, Arizona, is set to renew a contract that offers water to migrants attempting to cross into the U.S. at the southern border.

The county’s board of supervisors is scheduled to vote on June 4 to extend their current contract with Humane Borders, a nonprofit organization in Tucson, to provide water and support for migrants in the harsh desert conditions, as reported by Newsweek.

The existing $30,000 contract has led to the installation of water stations – blue, 55-gallon plastic water drums at various locations – aimed at preventing dehydration and fatalities.

According to the Humane Borders’ website, as of this month, 4,207 migrants have lost their lives while crossing the vast Arizona Sonoran Desert.

“Many more haven’t been found,” the group stated.

In April, Humane Borders expanded their operations to the Yuma, Arizona, area with a new permitted water station located along the border wall separating San Luis, Arizona from San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.

“With the hope that people understand this is not about political division, but about saving lives,” said Human Borders board member Dora Rodriguez in an interview with 13 News in Tucson last week.

Pima County spokesperson Mark Evans informed Newsweek that the board of supervisors has approved the Humane Borders contract every May or June since 2001.

Board members believe that the partnership with Humane Borders helps “reduce the costs related to the provision of healthcare, law enforcement, coroner services and burial services caused by dehydration and exposure.”

The Tucson Sector is referred to as the busiest sector along the border by the U.S. Border Patrol, as reported by 13 News.

“We are going to continue to see more death in our deserts,” Rodriguez stated in the same interview. “That’s why we have to make sure there is water everywhere we can because that water is lifesaving.”

The water stations are marked with blue flags on 30-foot poles to alert migrants. Some water barrels and flags are equipped with small solar cells for nighttime visibility.

In April, John Modlin, the chief patrol agent of the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, warned that the hot spring and summer months could lead to “unprecedented amounts of death in the desert” this year, as reported by Newsweek.