About the Project
In 1995, the U.S. federal government began an immigration enforcement strategy known as Prevention through Deterrence (PTD) along the southern border. This strategy increased security in unauthorized crossing areas surrounding urban ports of entry such as El Paso and San Diego. The goal was to shift undocumented border crossers towards remote border regions such as the Sonora Desert of Arizona, where security is less intense but crossing conditions are more difficult. The U.S. Congressional Research Service notes: “Prevention Through Deterrence”…has apparently accomplished its goal of rerouting unauthorized aliens away from urban areas and towards more remote areas of the Southwest border, making the journey more difficult for aliens and thereby affording the Border Patrol with more time to make the apprehension (Haddal 2010:15).
Jason De León
Arizona has since become the busiest crossing point along the southern border. Those who enter through this region often walk long distances (upwards of 70 miles) over several days, while simultaneously negotiating an inhospitable desert landscape characterized by extreme environmental conditions (summer temperatures often exceeding 100°F and winter temperatures that can reach freezing), rugged terrain, border bandits who rob and assault people, and coyotes, human smugglers who may abandon clients in the desert. Migrants must also evade Border Patrol who employ sophisticated ground and aerial surveillance technology to detect and capture people. As the PTD strategy shifted undocumented migration towards the deserts of Arizona, the human smuggling industry in the neighboring state of Sonora, Mexico grew to deal with the influx of migrants to
S t a t e o f E x c ep t i o n
Map of Undocumented Migration Project’s study area. The light gray rectangular areas designate national forest and federal nature reserve lands. The dark shaded circle around the town of Arivaca represents the approximate boundaries of the archaeological survey area.
Tucson Three Points
ARIZONA
Area of detail shown at right
ARI ME
ZON A XIC O
Arivaca
Nogales