Gadget seeks to save immigrants during border crossing
By David Morrill
The Desert Sun
December 21, 2000Cathedral City, California -- When it drops from the sky it looks like a missile, but in reality this innovation is intended to save lives, not destroy them.
At today's Project for Immigrant Lives meeting in Cathedral City, Bob Beken of San Diego announced plans to introduce a gadget called Radio Emergency System for Cueing, or R.E.S.C.U.E. The device works similar to an emergency call box on the side of a freeway except that instead of helping motorists it helps illegal immigrants.
“There are a lot of immigrant rights groups that are interested in serving as a gatekeeper, but very few groups that focus on stopping deaths on the border,” Beken said.
How it works: With R.E.S.C.U.E., if an illegal immigrant walking in the desert is seriously injured, they can either slap the pole-like device or rattle a red ring around its center to alert distress.
A computer inside the device, half the size of a deck of cards, formulates an e-mail message stating the need for help, and it is sent to computers and pagers of border patrol agents via satellite, Beken said.
Besides textual instructions in Spanish and English, there will be diagrams illustrating what the immigrant needs to do to get help.
While the first devices will be placed in a hole, subsequent ones will likely be dropped by helicopter to alleviate digging costs.
The kiosks will cost an estimated $4,000 each.
“There is bottled water placed throughout the desert, which might solve their problem for the next 20 minutes, but they are still in the Godforsaken desert,” Beken said. “It won't do much good if the person is suffering from a heat stroke.”
Beken said he can have three kiosks ready to use within the next 90 days, but said that eventually more than 1,000 will be needed to make a difference. Ideally, he'd like to see them placed from San Diego to Douglas, Ariz. Besides being practical, Beken said the kiosk is as secure as a telephone pole and would be very difficult to vandalize. If hit with a sledgehammer or shot at, an e-mail about the vandalism would also be sent.
“I'm very excited about these devices, and I'm confident they will be able to save more lives,” said El Centro Councilman David Dhillon, who presides over the task force.
Ethics: Some might see Beken’s invention as encouraging illegal immigrants, but he strongly disagrees.
“This allows them to call for help, but it doesn't allow them to continue the commission of a crime by providing a ticket to Los Angeles,” he said. “I just think its wrong to let people die."
From October 1999 to October 2000, 13 immigrants died trying to cross the border, Dhillon said.
In the future, Beken said similar devices could be used in mountainous areas to help lost hikers.
The task force meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. today at Cathedral City Hall, 68-700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero.
Copyright©2000 Desert Sun Publishing Co.
Read original article.