An Immigration Tragedy

Here's a side of the immigration situation you don't hear much about.

A 3-year-old boy from Mexico died while crossing the desert southwest of Tucson with his mother, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

The boy's body was left behind by the unidentified woman, who later told border agents about his death, authorities said Tuesday. Authorities are waiting for an autopsy to be conducted to determine the cause of death and whether any charges will be filed against the mother, said Jesus Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector. Agents apprehended the woman early Monday about six miles west of Sells and she later told authorities that she had left her son in the desert and he was dead. The body was found about 3 a.m. Tuesday on the Tohono Oodham reservation southwest of Tucson, Rodriguez said. The woman is in Border Patrol custody and the Mexican Consulate has been notified of the incident, authorities said.

Read it here.

In many ways the current situation is a humanitarian nightmare and it must be regularized, but the punitive systems demanded by many on the right would only make things worse. Attempts to restrict immigration severely will be counterproductive, but a generous policy that allows free movement of labor while registering individuals and providing a path to citizenship is the best possible solution, but in today's highly charged political atmosphere a rational and humane policy is probably too much to ask.