A Star’s Trek to Space Obscures Deadly Desert Treks Below

“Star Trek” was in the news this week, as actor William Shatner, who played “Captain Kirk” in the classic 1960s TV program, blasted into space at the age of 90 as one of billionaire Jeff Bezos’ latest Blue Origin space tourists. In this remote region of west Texas, mere miles from Bezos’ gilded launch pad, a trek of another kind takes place every day, as migrants, many fleeing violence, the climate crisis and poverty attempt the difficult journey from Mexico to the U.S. While the spacecraft lifted its privileged passengers aloft, lost lives littered the Chihuahuan Desert floor far below. Travel by foot under the blazing hot sun is difficult through the sand, rock and cacti, made harder by the militarized enforcement of the broken U.S. immigration system.