I’m sure some people think I’m trying to blackpill or something, but I grew up in the Tucson area and what’s being said doesn’t jive for me. There’s no doubt the city has been harmed by illegal immigration, that illegal immigration is all too often human smuggling, and that this kind of criminal activity benefits the drug trade.

If there is child sex trafficking in Tucson, my hunch is that it's tied into the overall illegal immigration issue. I think some discussion of why this is happening and who’s helping it is important. This is, imo, a situation where the supply chains exist for other reasons, and if something’s going on, it’s because those supply chains can be exploited and/or directed to bring in.

The Sonora Desert is dry, high, exposed, and miserable. It’s not easy country to cross in the best of conditions, and even though Tucson is about an hour’s drive from the border, crossing that land on foot can be a death sentence. It’s not a prime crossing location, or at least, it shouldn’t be. However, Arizona sees HALF of all illegal crossings along the entire southern border (https://www.fairus.org/issue/societal-impact/immigration-arizona).

This started in the early 2000s. I’m not sure why, as there seem to be a number of theories (Border Patrol crackdowns on cites, California tightening its own border security, etc). I might go as far as to say that this might have been an intentional ploy to “blue” up the hard-red state of Arizona through the same kind of demographic change that California is experiencing. Whatever the cause, Tucson saw all kinds of activists move in or step up to deal with the “crisis”.

I propose we look at these organizations. There are a few that provide direct aid in the form of watering stations and supplies along the border. It’s high-profile; in 2007, two of these organizations signed an kind of agreement with Mexico allowing them to provide aid south of the border (https://web.archive.org/web/20070427125921/http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/137512). At the very least, it’s a place to start.

Humane Borders: https://humaneborders.org/ Humane Border puts out water stations in the Sonoran desert. While well-meaning, what this does is help create easier routes to major population centers. It looks like they have some former Washington DC denizens on their board of directors. They were founded in 2000 by a Rev Robin Hoover (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2002/07/thirst-justice/), who was the pastor of the First Christian Church in Tucson. They are a 501(c)3 organization, and while they claim to do nothing illegal, Border Patrol has arrested their members on occasion for transporting illegals.

Also, they put out a report on their website claiming around $65K in yearly donations, but do not mention that they receive grant money from Pima County. I found this in an article from 2006 (https://www.deseretnews.com/article/635196270/Volunteers-fight-arrests-for-aiding-illegals.html) but amounts of $22-25K show up on the 990s as recently as 2014. The 2014 report on their website does not report this amount. This grant money was possibly approved under this guy: http://webcms.pima.gov/government/board_of_supervisors/supervisor_richard_elias_district_5/, but I can’t definitively verify that. I find this weird; where did that money go and why wouldn’t they put it in their newsletter?

Another thing I found highly interesting is their Migrant Death Map. They publish this in connection with the Pima County Medical Examiner's office. Since 2000, they've recorded over 2300 deaths. Of those, 149 were minors (under the age of 18). Of those, most died of exposure, but 22 died from blunt force trauma. Most of these have their location listed as "vague," meaning the exact place of death is unknown. I'd be interested to know either a) if there is a discernible pattern in those deaths and b) if things have been under-reported, altered, or bodies moved.

No More Deaths:  http://forms.nomoredeaths.org/en/ They offer legal services in addition to water stations, and are connected to the Tucson Unitarian Church. They also have members who have been arrested for aiding illegals (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/eight-humanitarian-volunteers-no-more-deaths-charges). That last article also suggests that Border Patrol has been previously tolerant of their activities; this would indicate to me that perhaps orders were coming down from higher up to not interfere with the organization under the last administration. Their list of allied organizations can be found at this link: http://forms.nomoredeaths.org/allied-organizations/

On the surface, none of this appears to be intentionally connected to child trafficking. And yes, nobody wants to see people die in the desert regardless of national origin. I’m sure most volunteers are well-meaning. It could even be a resource to do further research into other things. However, there may be some connections via affiliates, sponsors, volunteers, board members, or political allies that could be using these (and similarly-minded advocacy groups) for the sake of control. I do find strange that in a city where the medical and educational systems are stretched near to the point of failure by illegal immigration, grants are provided to organizations that facilitate it.

That’s my two cents. There are camps and bodies scattered everywhere out in the desert. People die, people are left to die, and people are straight-up murdered out there to the tune of hundreds a year. One camp can’t be the only starting point, as this is not an anomaly. I would find it very strange to discover that while many organizations that are intended, on paper, to fight human trafficking facilitate it, while organizations that make it easier are perfectly clean. The two above organizations make absolutely NO attempt to even address the idea that human trafficking even exists. I just think it merits further research, or maybe there are connections to be made off existing information.

(Mods, if this isn’t okay, I’ll take it down)