Reverend Robin Hoover, a human-rights activist, is supplying men and women in the business of smuggling illegal immigrants across the US and Mexico border with GPS tracking devices, hoping to prevent migrants from dying on the journey, according to a recent story in the Christian Science Monitor. As summer approaches, temperatures near the California, Arizona and Texas borders are well above 100 degrees, and can be very dangerous.
It is not uncommon for migrants to die while attempting to illegally cross the border. During the past decade, authorities have recovered over 2,000 bodies in the desert.
Hoover is donating the GPS tracking devices to smugglers, AKA coyotes, so they can alert search and rescue if trouble arises. “It’s like giving a life preserver to somebody that’s using a boat,” the Reverend told the CS Monitor.
The US Border Patrol has a much different opinion regarding the Reverend’s unorthodox plan. According to Steven Adkison, a Border Patrol spokesman, “The best way to save lives is to discourage anyone from attempting the difficult trek in the first place.”
To date, the Reverend has given five GPS tracking devices to the smugglers. Each GPS tracking system costs about $225. He says he plans to distribute over 100 GPS tracking devices, which he plans to buy with help from donations. He believes the tracking devices will help people survive the isolated trek through the desert heat.