Bare Life And Space In The Devil's Highway

Lastly, the concept of bare life and space as moral alibi described in Governing Immigration Through Crime (2004). According to Dowling and Inda (2013), “in the case of the US border control strategy, geographic space has made it possible to suggest that the consequences in the form of migrant deaths result from “natural causes – e.g., extreme heat, dehydration, thirst, or exposure to the elements- thus deflecting official responsibility….US border control strategies have turned and continue to turn much of the southwestern border areas into spaces of exception, and those traverse them, potentially into bare life” (Dowling & Inda, pg. 138, 2013). In regards to the geography of migrant crossing areas, the state officials would not have to do much in the aspect of deterring immigrants from entering the United States they could simply let nature take its course.
Throughout The Devil’s Highway, bodies of men and women fell numerous times trying to cross into the United States. Once the United States increased patrol of the border, they controlled the geography. Immigrants had to find another way and sometimes it resulted in death. In certain cases, if patrol found men and women dead they would not report them because they would have to take responsibility for anything that comes after. The geography in displacing the immigrants was
As illustrated in The Devil’s Highway (Urrea, pg. 118, 2013), a couple by the name of Lisa Scala and Martin Myer were camping at Buttercup. They went out for an adventure that day with their dune buggy, unfortunately, they did not take the recommended two gallons of water. In the same time, the dune buggy malfunctioned and before they knew it, they were stranded in the desert. Lisa and Martin’s body was found several days later and in different locations, because Martin left to get help but he could not make