The Sonoran Desert stretches roughly one hundred kilometers between Tucson, Arizona, and the Mexican border and is among the hottest places in the United States. In summer the barren, hilly expanse – cacti and thorny scrub as far as the eye can see – reaches 50 degrees Celsius on July’s hottest days. 

And today, the desert is also a flat strewn with bodies. 

According to Tucson-based Humane Borders, which is working to “build a more humane border,” nearly 4,500 migrants have been found dead over the past 15 years. Trying to cross, they lost their way and died from dehydration or prolonged exposure that triggers hyperthermia and, all too often, heart failure even in very young people. The bodies recovered are only a small fraction of those still lying in the desert, perhaps along less-travelled, little-known trails.

Among the organizations that help migrants on this arduous crossing are the Tucson Samaritans. The group takes its name from the Good Samaritan in Luke’s Gospel; yet – even though the initiative grew around the local Presbyterian church – the Samaritans are not a faith-based organization. 

“We’re open to anyone who wants to lend a hand,” member Alban Rosen tells il manifesto. “Recent volunteers have included people with no religious affiliation, plus a woman rabbi from........

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