Ananda Rose's Showdown in the Sonoran Desert is a thoughtful and passionate attempt to shed some light on a seemingly unresolvable American dilemma: what to do with the inestimable number of undocumented immigrants that year after year try to enter the United States through its southern border. This quite long dilemma has acquired a sense of urgency in the last couple of decades when more and more immigrants who tried to cross the border died in the attempt, overwhelmingly in the Sonoran desert, which makes up just 14 percent of the US–Mexican border but accounts for half of migrant deaths. As Rose documents, after the change in strategy implemented by the US government to deter undocumented immigration in the mid-1990s, many immigrants had to redirect their crossing attempts from urban enclaves to the Sonoran desert. Thus, while there were only one or two reported deaths per year before 1995, more than 2,000 attempted crossers perished between the year 2000 and 2010 (252 of them in the 2010 fiscal year).

One of the most important accomplishments of this superb book is its attempt to offer a balanced account of the different positions regarding undocumented immigration held by the various actors on the Arizona–Mexico border. In this regard, Rose divides the book into two parts. Part One, “God in the Desert: Migrant Deaths and the Rise of Border Ministries,” deals with the pro-immigration camp, which encompasses, among others, the work of the Sisters of the Eucharist order that runs soup kitchens for deported immigrants in the Mexican city of Nogales (chapter 1), the New Sanctuary Movement (chapter 2), the work of Reverend Robin Hoover to install water stations along the desert and prevent the deaths by dehydration of those who attempt to cross it (chapter 3), and two migrant ministries based out of Tucson – Human Borders and No More Deaths (chapter 4). Part Two, “Law in the Desert: Security, Sovereignty, and the Natural Rights of the State,” deals with the anti-immigrant camp, with chapter 6 dedicated to the US–Mexican wall that is being constructed in southern Arizona; chapter 7 dealing with the stance and actions regarding undocumented immigrants undertaken by the members of the Patriotic Coalition and the agents of the Border Patrol whom Rose interviewed; and chapter 8 addressing Arizona's controversial law, Senate Bill 1070, which, among other things, “granted law enforcement agents broad new powers to interrogate and arrest anyone they suspected of being in the U.S. illegally” (126, original emphasis). The book is completed by an introduction, a conclusion, and two postscripts for Parts One and Two (the last one with the very provocative title “What Would Jesus Do?” (original emphasis))

Why did I point out above that Rose's book deals with a seemingly “unresolvable” American dilemma? Because, as Rose correctly states, we are dealing here with two very different conceptions of human rights, both of which merit respect. On the one hand, there is the human right to migrate according to need (a cornerstone in the struggle against feudalism that founded modern societies, but also a central tenet of the Christian tradition, which clearly maintains, “Not only is it not illegal to migrate according to need; it is a ‘God-given’ right’” (43)). On the other hand, citizens of a sovereign nation have a human right to be able to monitor and control their borders. At the same time, the horrifying death figures have moved faith-based organizations to make a humanitarian claim on the issue. Using numerous Bible passages to buttress their stance (Leviticus 19:33, Luke 10, Isaiah 49:10, etc.), they stress religious and ethical concerns based on the Judeo-Christian concept of radical hospitality. Contributing to the “unresolvable” nature of the dilemma, the anti-immigrant camp have answered this religious twist with one of their own, by pointing to those passages of the Bible in which adherence to the law is tantamount to being a good Christian, most prominently Romans 13.

Rose's main argument throughout the book, beyond the myriad issues linked to the unprecedented numbers of people living without proper migration documents in the US and dying in the Sonoran desert trying to enter the country, is

A major accomplishment. Highly recommended.