蜜柚直播

The 78-year-old artist and his crew of volunteers were seeking the exact place the man died in order to mark it with a yellow cross, part of Enciso鈥檚 long-running art installation project called 鈥淒onde Mueren Los Sue帽os鈥� 鈥� Where Dreams Die.

The cross isn鈥檛 a comforting religious symbol for Enciso, who says he isn鈥檛 a very religious person. It鈥檚 a way to lend visibility to an ongoing tragedy that鈥檚 invisible to most. It鈥檚 a reflection of the brutality of death by exposure, like those sentenced to die by crucifixion during the Roman Empire.

And, he says, it鈥檚 an indictment of those who turn a blind eye to the mounting death toll in the Southern 蜜柚直播 desert.

As much as he wants to honor those who lost their lives, he also wants to confront Americans with a harsh reality: the migrant-death crisis that advocates say is the inevitable result of U.S. border-enforcement policy, and lawmakers鈥� decades-long failure to enact immigration reform that could stop or slow the mass-fatality event unfolding here.

鈥淚n a way we鈥檙e all complicit, because we haven鈥檛 been able to stop it,鈥� said Enciso, who migrated to the U.S. from Colombia in the 1960s. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a story here; the story of a very embarrassing chapter of American history, a very sad chapter of American history, that we did not treat our neighbors properly.鈥�

On Tuesday morning, Enciso and his crew of six, including friends and volunteers from the 蜜柚直播 Samaritans, set off at 7 a.m. from Borderlinks in downtown 蜜柚直播.

By the time they leaned across the hood of the Toyota 4Runner, searching the map and a GPS navigation device for clues, Enciso and his team had already been out for six hours, traversing unmaintained rocky roads and steep terrain that pushed the limits of their four-wheel-drive vehicles.

It was the third cross installation of the day. With highs only in the 90s, it鈥檚 an easier day than usual for Enciso, who has spent each Tuesday for the past decade placing his hand-made crosses in the desert.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not an easy thing to do every Tuesday. It鈥檚 a lot of work, it鈥檚 a lot of bad roads,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t leaves me with a whole bunch of emotions. ... But it鈥檚 what I do on Tuesdays. That became part of my life.鈥�

The unknown migrant鈥檚 cross

After realizing they had backtracked too far, the group hopped back into their dust-covered SUVs and continued down a dirt path through the green high-desert terrain.

Fifteen minutes later they found the unknown migrant鈥檚 final resting spot, within sight of a remote water-catchment tank and surrounded by manzanita shrubs, juniper trees and barrel cactus.

The team dug a hole for the yellow cross under a tall alligator juniper. Placing the cross in the hole, they surrounded it with quick-dry concrete and water, mixing until it began to set. Enciso stepped back and directed his friend, Peter Lucero, to tilt the cross a little further back to get it straight. The volunteers gathered rocks to stabilize the base of the cross, which Enciso had adorned with pieces of metal cut from debris left in the desert by migrants.

鈥淭his person is not yet identified; however, he has a name. We just don鈥檛 know it yet,鈥� Enciso said, standing near the cross. 鈥淎nd he has a family. ... He had dreams and plans and feelings and ideas of wanting to be somebody in life. It just all ended here. This is a very tragic spot.鈥�

The tranquil setting might have offered some consolation to the dying, he said.

But that should not comfort the living: Enciso wants his audience to recognize that the migrants he honors suffered an excruciating death 鈥� usually from overheating or dehydration 鈥� a horror obscured by clinical terms like 鈥渄eath by exposure鈥� or 鈥渉yperthermia,鈥� he said.

The unidentified migrants hit Enciso the hardest, those whose families are caught between wondering and grieving.

He estimates he鈥檚 placed 1,600 crosses since he began his project in 2013. It鈥檚 less than half the known number of undocumented migrants, identified or not, who have died in the 蜜柚直播 desert.

He knows he鈥檒l never be able to honor them all.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 have enough life in me to finish,鈥� he said.

Secular symbol

Enciso says he allows his friend Lucero, a devout Catholic, to drape a rosary across his crosses. But for Enciso the symbol is secular, and its meaning is multifaceted: The cross鈥� vertical line represents migrants in life, vital and upright. The horizontal represents their position in death.

At the two lines鈥� intersection, Enciso attaches a red dot made from clay that mirrors the thousands of red icons scattered across a digital created by 蜜柚直播 nonprofit Humane Borders. Populated with data from the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, the map grows by the dozens each month, as more migrants鈥� remains are discovered and more red icons are added.

The clay red dot is the physical representation of an abstract symbol, Enciso said.

More than 4,100 migrant deaths have been mapped by Humane Borders since 1990, and at least one-third of them have not been identified. Sometimes, the desert鈥檚 victims have been dead less than a day when they are found. Others are in an advanced state of decomposition.

In August alone, 25 fatalities were added to Humane Borders鈥� map, including eight people who were found within one day of their death, according to the nonprofit鈥檚 latest report.

Thousands more are still missing.

鈥淭he desert is full of bones, people we haven鈥檛 been able to find yet,鈥� Enciso said.

Reports of migrant deaths began surging in the early 2000s, as the Clinton-era border enforcement policy of 鈥減revention through deterrence鈥� channeled migrants into increasingly remote areas of the desert.

Before 2000, the medical examiner鈥檚 office in Pima County received less than 20 bodies of undocumented migrants each year, said Dr. Greg Hess, chief medical examiner for Pima County. In 2000, the number shot up to 71. In 2002, the office received 146 sets of migrant remains.

Now, the medical examiner receives on average 170 migrant remains each year. In 2005, the office ran out of space in its 1989 building and began relying on refrigerated trucks to store remains. The county has begun construction on a new building to accommodate the added storage demands, Hess said.

Trauma fatigue

Well-intentioned journalists have come and gone, said Hess, who estimates he鈥檚 had more than 1,900 conversations with reporters over the years. They publish lengthy features, investigations or documentaries highlighting the tragedy and spotlighting victims, seeking to center those whose humanity can get lost in fast-paced breaking news reports on the immigration crisis. They detail the tortured experience of those who die from exposure.

Despite those efforts, nothing has changed, Hess said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of numbing,鈥� he said on Thursday. 鈥淭here鈥檚 kind of a mental fatigue with it. You see people鈥檚 rediscovery of the issue time and time again.鈥�

Yet, he said, 鈥渋t has no impact in the number of decedents that we鈥檝e found. People鈥檚 attention to the issue waxes and wanes over time.鈥�

Enciso understands the sentiment. His project has been ongoing for 10 years, garnering national and international attention. Yet the deaths continue, even accelerating in recent years.

But like the northward journey of the migrants he honors, Enciso鈥檚 art project is rooted in hope, he said.

鈥淭hings are getting worse,鈥� he said in an interview from his Menlo Park home in 蜜柚直播 earlier this month. Yet, he said, 鈥測ou have to be hopeful. You cannot let go. Everything that I make has that intentionality, that things will get better.鈥�

Julian鈥檚 cross

Earlier in the day last Tuesday, headed toward their first set of GPS coordinates, Enciso鈥檚 three-vehicle caravan reached Amado on I-19, then veered west through Arivaca before continuing south to the border. The group made a wrong turn on the unmarked dirt roads and ended up bouncing down a roller-coaster steep stretch of rugged road for the next half hour.

Enciso shifted into four-wheel drive, shutting off the air conditioner so the vehicle didn鈥檛 overheat, and warned his passengers to 鈥渉ang on鈥� as he urged the SUV up and down steep passes.

Close to 10 a.m., he finally met up with a tidy road running parallel to the imposing border wall, a clean line blasted into the mountainous terrain by contractors building this segment of the wall in the final months of the Trump administration.

The team disembarked and followed GPS coordinates into the desert to where 20-year-old Mexican migrant Julian Xochiquiquisqui Tlehuactle was found on July 1, 2013, less than a week after his death from exposure, likely hyperthermia, according to the Pima County medical examiner鈥檚 office.

The red cross they installed is within sight of the border line, prompting Enciso to imagine how difficult must have been the trip through Mexico, for Julian to have only made it this far.

Migrants鈥� journey through the Sonoran Desert is so perilous it should be impossible, said Diane Noonan Pothast, volunteer with the 蜜柚直播 Samaritans. Pothast has been accompanying Enciso on his trips for about five years, she said in a Friday interview.

鈥淧eople go on faith,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ome people are out of water and don鈥檛 have shoes before they even cross to the other side of the border.鈥�

Lizbeth鈥檚 cross

The team continues on to a nearby site, also in view of the wall, where the body of Mexican national Lizbeth Sanchez Ramirez, 36, was discovered in July.

She was found less than three weeks after her death from hyperthermia, according to the medical examiner鈥檚 report, based on her body鈥檚 state of decomposition and the partial skeletonization of her cranium.

Enciso and his team take a moment to search the area for any signs the deceased, or other migrants, were there. Often, they find bones, discarded food containers, clothing or empty water bottles.

In 2018 Enciso鈥檚 team found a decomposing body on one of their trips. Enciso remembers the migrant 鈥� later identified as a woman from Guatemala 鈥� was wearing new brightly colored sneakers for her trip.

鈥淭here was still the smell of death there,鈥� he said.

The trauma of it was too much for one of his team members, who afterwards decided to step away from the project, Enciso said.

On this day, the group finds clumps of silky black hair at the GPS coordinates marking Lizbeth鈥檚 place of death, the dark strands still gleaming even resting in the yellow dirt.

Medical examiner Hess said it鈥檚 鈥渉ighly likely鈥� the hair belonged to Lizbeth, as her head was uncovered when she was found and bodies tend to decompose quickly in the desert, as mummification sets in.

Scattered by scavenging animals, parts of recovered migrants鈥� bodies are often missed during the collection process, Hess said. Reviewing forensic photos, he said Lizbeth鈥檚 skull only had some hair remaining on the back of her head.

Both Julian and Lizbeth鈥檚 remains have been returned to their families.

As Enciso鈥檚 team installed a green cross for Lizbeth, Pothast of the Samaritans scouted the area to see if water bottles she鈥檇 dropped there previously needed to be replaced. The volunteers who accompany Enciso often take the opportunity to place water that could be the difference between life or death for future travelers.

鈥淲hen we put up a cross, I think the person the cross is for is going to save lives because now, we鈥檙e going to put water there,鈥� Pothast said. 鈥淣ow, we鈥檒l check on the cross and see if there鈥檚 (another migrant鈥檚) trail.

鈥淚n the big picture, I think these folks will end up being heroes in a strange way. They sacrificed their life, and they are going to save other people.鈥�

The Samaritans have been putting out water for migrants for 20 years, Pothast said.

鈥淭he system needs reconstructive surgery, and we鈥檙e putting Bandaids on it,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut Bandaids help. They鈥檙e not the solution, but we鈥檙e going to keep doing that. It鈥檚 never over.鈥�

Shared dreams

Back at the vehicles, the group is close to the spot where the 30-foot-tall border wall abruptly ends, as the mountainous terrain becomes impassable. To the west, a large break in the border wall has only low-lying vehicle barriers to accommodate the ephemeral wash there, where floodwaters rush across the border during storms.

Floodgates and breaks are installed in various points along the wall out of necessity: Powerful floodwaters and debris could damage or topple the wall without the openings.

As Enciso鈥檚 group prepares to leave, two young men on the Mexican side speak across the break in the border wall, while an energetic blue heeler flits around their legs. Before retreating out of view, they say they have a group of 10 migrants with them, including two children, and that they鈥檒l wait until nightfall to cross.

Enciso has no love for the human smugglers, known as coyotes, who lead migrants here, possibly to their deaths. He notes that the young men were likely employed by a cartel and view the people with them as merchandise to be delivered.

In August, the Border Patrol encountered nearly 49,000 migrants who crossed the border between official ports of entry in the 蜜柚直播 Sector 鈥� the highest number of all nine border sectors, according to figures released Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Enciso doesn鈥檛 distinguish between migrants who turn themselves in to make a plea for asylum, and those who cross the border between ports of entry seeking to evade law enforcement. It鈥檚 impossible to know each individual鈥檚 reasons, he said.

When he legally migrated from Colombia in the 1960s, Enciso was easily able to obtain a resident visa. Today, that would be extremely difficult, he said.

鈥淚 would have had to make a big decision whether to make the trip illegally and to take the risk,鈥� he said.

Enciso focuses on the humanity of all migrants, and he can鈥檛 help but recognize himself in their hopeful journey.

His art project is also a meditation on his own migrant experience: the dreams he had as a young man seeking to escape poverty, followed by years of working as a taxi driver and mopping floors in New York. Then, a period of homelessness before he was drafted into the Vietnam War, where he lost of sense of smell from inhaling napalm. He attended college on the G.I. Bill, before finding his place as a renowned artist.

Once, Enciso said, he was just as vulnerable as these migrants were in life. And even in their desert death scenes, in the scattered evidence of their final breaths, he sees himself reflected.

Looking toward the yellow cross under the alligator juniper tree, the final memorial of a long day, Enciso said, 鈥淭his could have happened to me.鈥�