Prometheus 6

It's hard to escape the conclusion that the water district's board is more concerned about illegal immigration than about human lives. Border security is a good thing, but crossing shouldn't be a death sentence. Even Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of El Cajon, who is no friend to illegal immigrants, is appalled by the drownings; last month he wrote a letter to water officials calling the deaths "a costly consequence to past indifference."

All-American deathtrap
Renovations to the All-American Canal will likely add to the deadly toll it takes on illegal immigrants.
July 21, 2007

IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE a less aptly named water project than the All American Canal in Imperial County. There's nothing American about watching people drown by the hundreds while doing next to nothing to save them, but that is precisely what managers of the canal have been doing for decades.