Starr Forum: Book Talk with Ananda Rose
Showdown in the Sonoran Desert Religion, Law, and the Immigration Controversy

How can we preserve the integrity of sovereign borders while also respecting the dignity of human beings? How should a border -that imaginary line in the sand- be humanely and effectively maintained? And how should we regard "the stranger" in our midst?

Ananda Rose holds a doctorate from Harvard University. She is a published poet, journalist, and theologian. Her book, Showdown in the Sonoran Desert, Oxford University Press, was published in June 2012.
Rose traveled to the Sonoran desert, a border region where the remains of some 2,000 migrants have been recovered over the past decade. There she interviewed Minutemen, Border Patrol agents, Catholic nuns, humanitarian aid workers, left-wing protestors, ranchers, and many other ordinary citizens of southern Arizona.
She discovers two starkly opposed ideological perspectives: that of religious activists who embrace a biblically inspired hospitality that stresses love of strangers and a "borderless" compassion; and that of law enforcement, which insists on safety, security, and strict respect for international borders.