Eduardo Osiel Canales (human rights advocate and former union organizer who advocated for the welfare of migrants crossing the border into South Texas.[1][2] He set up nearly 200 water stations[3] along routes taken by migrants avoiding a checkpoint along U.S. Route 281, dozens of whom die each year from dehydration[1] and temperature extremes.[2] He also helped coordinate rescue missions, and sometimes assisted in the recovery of remains, when people's loved ones went missing in the area;[2] Texas programs for identifying the dead are notoriously under-resourced, and migrants are sometimes buried, unidentified, in mass graves.[4] He founded the South Texas Human Rights Center, a nonprofit intended to prevent the death and suffering of migrants on the border.[2][3] He died July 30th, 2024, after a months-long battle with pancreatic cancer.[1][5]
January 12, 1948– July 30, 2024), known as Eddie Canales, was aEddie Canales | |
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Born | January 12, 1948 |
Died | July 30, 2024 | (aged 76)
Known for | Human rights advocacy |
Early life
editEddie Canales' parents were migrant farmworkers from the Rio Grande Valley, but he grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas.[2][5] He was bilingual, and learned to read from a young age.[5] He worked to help to support is family as a child, shining shoes, sweeping a barbershop floor, and cleaning up a cafeteria.[2] As a child he attended schools in South Texas, including Sam Houston Elementary School in Corpus Christi.[5] He graduated from W. B. Ray High School in 1966 and then worked a job cleaning airplanes for Eastern Airlines while attending Del Mar College.[5] By 1968 he was a student at the University of Houston,[5] where, spurred by the United Farm Workers and the Delano grape strike, he became involved in union organizing.[2]
In popular culture
edit- He appears in a 2020 documentary called Missing in Brooks County.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b c Nossiter, Adam (10 August 2024). "Eddie Canales, 76, Dies; Gave Migrants Water, and Dignity". New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e f g Smith, Harrison (12 August 2024). "Eddie Canales, who campaigned to prevent migrant deaths, dies at 76". Washington Post.
- ^ a b Goodyear, Sheena (13 August 2024). "Eddie Canales, who set up nearly 200 water stations along U.S.-Mexico border, dead at 76". CBC.ca.
- ^ Del Bosque, Melissa (21 August 2024). "A Visionary in the Borderlands". Texas Observer.
- ^ a b c d e f Nickas, Katie (1 August 2024). "Edward 'Eddie' Canales, Corpus Christi advocate for migrants and laborers, dies at 76". Caller Times.
- ^ Kimball, Kelly; Lu, Christina (21 February 2021). "The Rolling Tragedy of 'Missing in Brooks County'". Foreign Policy.
Further reading
editObituaries and tributes
edit- Nickas, Katie (1 August 2024). "Edward 'Eddie' Canales, Corpus Christi advocate for migrants and laborers, dies at 76". Caller Times.
- Tamez, Ana (1 August 2024). "Immigrants' rights advocate Eduardo 'Eddie' Canales dies Wednesday". KIII.
- Muro, Nanzi (7 August 2024). "Eddie Canales ¡Presente! A Longtime Human Rights Activist Has Died". People's Tribune.
- Del Bosque, Melissa (21 August 2024). "A Visionary in the Borderlands". Texas Observer.
- Pope, Pachatta (31 July 2024). "Texas migrant advocate, civil rights activist Eddie Canales dies at 76". KSAT-TV.
- "Honoring the life of Eduardo "Eddie" Canales". National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. 31 July 2024.
News coverage while living
edit- Del Bosque, Melissa (16 June 2014). "Tyrant's Foe: Eddie Canales Is Saving the Lives of Undocumented Immigrants". The Texas Observer.
- Hennessy-Fiske, Molly (19 July 2014). "Migrant crisis expands north from border, into arid Texas wilderness". Los Angeles Times.
- Davies, David Martin (30 December 2019). "The Dead In The Desert: Water Stations Save Lives". Texas Public Radio.
- Isacson, Adam (30 October 2020). "Preventing Migrant Deaths at the U.S.-Mexico Border". Washington Office on Latin America.
- Gibson, Michael (4 June 2021). "South Texas Human Rights Center calling for immigration policy changes". KIII.
- Monroe, Rachel (2 August 2022). "The Missing Migrants of South Texas". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X.
- Sanchez, Sandra (15 July 2022). "Watering stations a lifeline for migrants wandering under intense heat of South Texas". Border Report.
- Cabrera, Kristen (15 August 2023). "Life-saving water stations along migrant routes in South Texas brush go missing". Texas Standard.
Oral history
edit- Canales, Eddie (30 June 2015). "Oral History Interview with Eddie Canales" (Interview). Interviewed by Enriquez, Sandra; Robles, David.
{{cite interview}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: interviewers list (link)