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Some of us are illegal and some are not wanted
Our work contracts out and we have to move on Six hundred miles to that Mexican border They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like
thieves
We died in your hills, we died in your deserts
We died in your valleys and died on your plains
We died 'neath your trees and we died in your bushes
Both sides of the river, we died just the same
Some things haven't changed much since the late Woodie Guthrie, the legendary American songwriter, penned the words to the song "Deportee," about Mexican farm workers of another era.
The Mexican border remains a violent place for immigrants, and that song of decades ago remains eerily relevant. Too many Mexican immigrants die -- more than 1600 since 1994 -- trying to make it into the states. On Feb. 2, we published a story that told of a vicious cycle of death along the border where immigrants often die of exposure to heat or cold in the desert or mountains while crossing into the United States seeking jobs that few others will do.
Some significant changes could take place, however, if legislative proposals currently making their...