Tucson Sector 2002-2003

Quiltmaker’s Statement:

I was honored to make a quilt for the Migrant Quilt Project because these quilts humanize and memorialize the lives of migrants who died searching for a better life. I used the state of Arizona to map the deaths of known and unknown migrants whose locations were identified. The clustering of deaths show the effects of the border patrol practice of prevention through deterrence, which forces people to cross at the most dangerous parts of the desert. A patch included on this quilt says, “Dedicated to friends and family left behind. May this quilt honor lives of migrants and grief of their loved ones.”

A special thanks to my mother Christine Moreno who helped significantly with piecing the top. And thanks to local Tucson artists Madelyn Tucker Pawlowski who contributed a barrel cactus cross stitch and Benjamin Franklin Pawlowski who contributed a saguaro maze. Additionally, thanks to the many members of the Tucson community who came together to write the 205 names on the quilt.

Sonia Arellano