Two UCSD professors working on a controversial cell phone tool
that could help guide illegal immigrants safely across the
border say they want to deploy the devices as soon as next
summer, the North County Times reported. Hundreds die each year
attempting to cross the border illegally. UCSD professor Ricardo
Dominguez and his partner in the project said they hope to give
people cell phones they can use in an emergency to prevent
deaths. After it's downloaded into Motorola phones equipped with
GPS, it's a humanitarian tool designed to save lives, according
to the application's creators at UCSD. "It's really just
designed for you to turn it on, and the compass would show you
where is the nearest safety site -- be that Border Patrol or
highway or water -- in case you're in extreme emergency," co-
creator Micha Cardenas said. "Our goal: distribution and use by
summer," Dominguez told the paper. But technical and logistical
hurdles remain, the professors say. They have to identify safe
locations where people can go