1. United States
2. Ga.
3. Letter

I live in Georgia, but I am writing about the Arizona desert, because this is a matter of life and death. Humane Borders is a nonprofit that keeps water stations in the Sonoran Desert so people do not die of thirst and heat. Since at least 2001, federal land managers have allowed these stations, under Republican and Democratic presidents alike. In 2001, the superintendent of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument said of migrant deaths, "It's nothing a person should have to die for." A water station is simple. It is one or more 55-gallon blue plastic barrels with a spigot, set on a stand off the desert floor. A blue flag on a 30-foot pole marks each one so people can find it, and some have small solar lights for night. Volunteers drive water trucks over rough roads to refill the barrels with clean drinking water. They check and taste the water on every trip and swap out barrels often in summer to keep the water safe. Now the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Fish and Wildlife Service have refused to renew permits for 12 of these stations. Six are in Organ Pipe, where 16 people have already died this year. Humane Borders has recorded 86 sets of human remains in the Arizona desert so far in 2026. These stations are barrels of water. Hikers, hunters, and even Border Patrol agents use them. Removing them will not stop anyone from crossing. It will only mean more people die alone in the desert, and more families never learn what happened to them. Please contact the Secretary of the Interior and urge that these denials be reversed. Please also ask the agencies to explain their reasons in writing. For 25 years, leaving water for people dying of thirst was not a partisan issue. It should not become one now. Please tell me, on the record, what you will do.