Excerpt From A Tibetan Liturgy For The Dead

Meléndez, who operates one of the 14 funeral homes in Ciudad Juárez, says shipping bodies across the border is a growing business.

In the last three years, at least 124,000 residents of Ciudad Juárez have migrated to the United States, most of them to El Paso, Texas, according to the organization Observatory for Safety and Peaceful Co-existence.

More than 7,000 people have been killed in this city since 2008.

But when you’re dead, your legal status doesn’t matter, notes the funeral home director.

“They could be Mexican or Chinese. It doesn’t matter; they’ll cross the border in three days,” he says.

Consider reading the rest of this article, “It’s Easier to Cross the Border When You’re Dead” by Claudia Núñez for New America Media on Nov. 30, 2010.