Earlier this week, the three Democrats on the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to form a partnership with Catholic Community Services in order to house migrants in unused sections of the county’s juvenile detention facility. (The two Republicans on the board opposed the agreement.) The decision upset people on the right (who couldn’t care less about the migrants) as well as people on the left (who worry that the migrants will be traumatized by staying a few days in a former jail).
The detention center may not be optimal, but very little in this situation is, as longtime Weekly correspondent Margaret Regan writes in this week’s cover story. Regan, who has authored two acclaimed books about border issues (The Death of Josseline and Detained and Deported), examines why so many migrants are moving through our community and how volunteers are trying to show kindness to these families. Some of the migrant children have created often-heartbreaking artwork that’s now on display in Councilman Steve Kozachik’s Ward 6 office. Go see the exhibit if you want to see the human face of the children who are in the middle of this political battle.
Elsewhere in this week’s issue: Police Dispatch correspondent Anna Mirocha explains what “pole” is all about ahead of this weekend’s national pole sports championship in Tucson; columnist Tom Danehy pays tribute to the late George Kalil and the now-shuttered Green Fields Country Day School; Chow writer Mark Whittaker tells us what’s happening at Govinda’s after a fire damaged the vegetarian restaurant inside a Krishna temple; theater correspondent Leigh Moyers of Taming of the Review tells us that Identity Crisis delves into memory, mental health and what it means to be human; associate editor Jeff Gardner finds out what happens when you mash up Black Sabbath and Ronald McDonald; and we have plenty more columns and comics to delight and amuse.
A final note: If you haven’t already voted in Best of Tucson®, it’s time to cast a ballot online. What are you waiting for? Don’t let our Aug. 5 deadline get the best of you.
— Jim Nintzel Executive Editor
Hear Nintz talk about what’s happening in Tucson’s entertainment scene Wednesday mornings at 9:30 a.m. during The Frank Show on KLPX, 96.1 FM. Nintzel talks politics on the John C. Scott Political Forum at 3 p.m. Thursdays on KVOI, 1030 AM. Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel airs at 4 p.m. Sunday on KXCI, 91.3 FM.
This article appears in Jul 25-31, 2019.
Again, another reason to vote no when dingleberry and the unsupervisors ask for more money. They are going to raise your property taxes anyway like the just did quietly and waste them on illegals and yes remember this when the unsuperivors are up for reelection.
I see that the article does not mention the $533,000 cost to initially revamp the detention center. I(ts good enough to house juveniles but not illegals?) The article also doesnt mention the estimated $1million + annual cost of housing the illegals that the Catholic Community services is not going to pay for! Where is this money coming from the supervisors have already committed to oh yes the residents of Pima county. The collective illegal immigrant supporting residents of The county should all step up and each take in a few of these illegals house, feed, clothe, and pay medical expenses as well as provide transportation and be held responsible for the iillegals court dates and eventual deportation.
While I found your tribute to Green Fields Country Day School reflective and informative, There was a piece of it’s history you failed to mention. Kerri Strug, An Alum of Green Field’s, who was a member of the Magnificent Seven, the victorious all-around women’s gymnastic team that represented The USA in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. She famously and courageously performed the vault with an injured ankle and was carried to the podium by her coach, Bela Karolyi. My daughter attended Green Fields around that time and I remember that it was the talk of the school, the town, and the nation.