LaVoyger Durham is setting up water stations on the 13,000-acre El Tule ranch he manages in South Texas after finding the bodies of two border crossers last week.
"I try to save their lives," Durham
told NBC News. "I've got compassion. I've got pity."
Just 30 miles away lies a known drop-off point in Mexico, and many would-be immigrants die of heat exhaustion, dehydration, and exposure by the time they reach El Tule ranch.
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Durham has discovered seven dead bodies on the ranch since 2011, and says that regardless of one's politics on immigration, no one deserves to die.
According to Borderzine.com, nearly 80 bodies have been recovered in the Brooks County in 2013, approaching the record 129 in 2012.
Water stations have long been a fixture in southern Arizona, and many in southern Texas are now looking to its model in an effort to reduce the number of deaths they see in their counties. Until the state and federal governments figure out a more permanent solution, they say there's no other option.
Some nearby ranchers Durham has begun conversations with say they would prefer it if the water stations could also double as interception points.
"The only way I would allow them to put those jugs on my property is if Border Patrol were going to be allowed to put a camera on that water source and be able to intercept these people that are utilizing them," said Mike Vickers.
Durham doesn't disagree, but said that the border agents don't have good enough response times to make interception a reality. "By the time the Border Patrol comes out here, they’ll be in Houston, Texas, having a Tecate beer," he said.
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