EBOOK Showdown in the Sonoran Desert:Religion, Law, and the Immigration Controversy

The U.S. immigration debate has raised some of the most difficult questions our        nation has ever faced: How can we preserve the integrity of sovereign borders while        also respecting the dignity of human beings? How should a border-that imaginary line        in the sand-be humanely and effectively maintained? And how should we regard "e;the        stranger"e; in our midst?To understand the experience of those directly impacted by        the immigration crisis, Ananda Rose traveled to the Sonoran desert, a border region        where the remains of some 2,000 migrants have been recovered over the past decade.          There she interviewed Minutemen, Border Patrol agents, Catholic nuns, humanitarian        aid workers, left-wing protestors, ranchers, and many other ordinary citizens of        southern Arizona. She discovers two starkly opposed ideological perspectives: that        of religious activists who embrace a biblically inspired hospitality that stresses        love of strangers and a "e;borderless"e; compassion; and that of law enforcement, which        insists on safety, security, and strict respect for international borders. But by        embracing the stories these people tell about their lived experience-whether the        rancher angered over seeing his property damaged by trespassing migrants, or the        migrant who has left three children behind in a violent shantytown in the hope of        providing them a better life through southbound remittances, or the Border Patrol        agent stuck between his loyalty to law and the pain of finding a baby girl dead in        the desert-Rose takes readers beyond predictable and entrenched partisan views to        offer a more nuanced portrait of the conflict on the border. Ultimately, she argues,        the immigration question turns on how we choose to view "e;the other"e;-with compassion        or with fear.In writing that is intimate, insightful, even-handed, and often        gut-wrenchingly vivid, Showdown in the Sonoran Desert offers a fresh new way to        frame one of the most important debates of our time.