Passover & Holy Week & Dying Migrants

April 21 was the 568th Thursday that we've gathered at El Tiradito shrine in downtown Tucson to remember the migrants -- known and unknown -- who have died in the Arizona desert in their desperate search for work.

This week the vigil fell during Passover and Holy Week. Here are the two short scriptural readings we had before sharing reflections:

From the Torah at Passover

When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself. (Leviticus 19:33-34)

From the Gospel of John on Holy Thursday

Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.... (Then he said),“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:5-15)

In the year that ended last Sept. 30, the bodies of at least 253 migrants were found just on the Arizona part of the 2000-mile US-Mexico border. From Oct. 1 to Feb. 28, at least 59 more bodies were found. (We don't have the numbers from March yet.) All these gruesome deaths -- and we still have not had a triple-digit day this year. (One summer we had 99 of those in Tucson, and it is hotter than Tucson in much of the desert.)

With the never-ending ugly politics, it does not appear that we will have comprehensive immigration reform in the foreseeable future. This summer will most likely be one more borderlands massacre.