Marcella “Sali” Grace Eiler, activist and correspondent with Arizona Indymedia, was found dead last week in Oaxaca with signs of a brutal rape and murder.

Sally had lived between Tucson and Oaxaca since 2006. When in Arizona, Sally helped raise awareness and support for the struggle in Oaxaca, as well as engaging in solidarity work on the U.S. / Mexico border and in the Tucson community.

Here is her last report published by AZ Indy Media: Army out of Chiapas, Oaxaca,and the country!

From Tucson:

“It does appear at this point that we’re not seeing any change in the amount of people attempting to cross,” spokeswoman Dove Haber said. “We’re not seeing a slowdown, not at this point.”…..Since the Border Patrol’s fiscal year began Oct. 1, the Pima County medical examiner’s office has counted 118 desert deaths in Pima, Santa Cruz and Pinal counties, Parks said. It remains unclear exactly how many of those were heat related.

Here are some of them:

– The body of a Mexican man found on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. The man died after he fell behind at least five other men who had been walking for 24 hours without water.

– Human remains believed to have been lying in open desert for several weeks were found about eight miles east of the Naco port of entry. Authorities weren’t able to determine the unidentified person’s gender.

– A Guatemalan woman found near the village of Artesia, also on the Tohono O’odham reservation.

– An unidentified body discovered south of Sells on the reservation believed to have been in the desert for about two days.

– A man suffering from heat exhaustion who was left behind by his uncle and three others walking in the desert west of Arizona 286. He died six hours after being airlifted to a hospital.

– A man found by a law enforcement helicopter on the Tohono O’odham reservation.

– A 38-year-old woman from Ixtapa found dead northwest of Arivaca Junction who had been left behind by her brother because she was sick.

– An unidentified Mexican man found under a tree in a decomposing state west of I-19 about 17 miles north of the Mexican border.

Of course, this is my real opinion of this border. Or, perhaps this is a more direct explanation:

Some people have to stay and fight for survival in the country they live in while others have to leave to survive. Corporations cross international borders all the time in search of people to exploit for profit and no one stops them. They call it globalization. On the other hand, the victims of corporate domination are told that they can’t cross borders in search of better lives, and are forced to stay and deal with the social, economic and environmental messes the companies leave behind when they inevitably move their operations to places with even more “favourable business climatesî (re: lower wages, lax environmental laws, tax breaks). Looks like capitalism and human-rights don’t mix.

From Delete the Border, via migramatters.com 

It’s a widely held belief, reinforced by those who advocate for stricter immigration controls, that increased immigration brings with it increased crime. It’s by no means a new notion. All immigrant groups at one time or another have faced accusations of inherent criminality. Whether it’s Italian mafiosos or Chinese opium dens, stereotypes and myths about immigrant criminality have permeated American culture and political discourse since the nation’s inception. So it is not surprising that many Americans today believe that the newest wave of immigrants bring with them a disrespect for the law and a proclivity for criminal behavior. A new study, released last Monday, looked at immigrant criminality and found that not only are new immigrants less likely than their native-born counterparts to commit crimes or be incarcerated in state or federal prisons, they actually contributed to a decrease in the overall crime rate nationally.

read more.