Phone points illegal border crossers to water

SAN DIEGO: A group of California artists are developing a GPS-enabled cell phone to help dehydrated illegal migrants find water - and regale them with poetry - as they trek through harsh deserts into the United States.

The Transborder Immigrant Tool created by faculty at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), is part technology endeavor, part art project. It introduces a high-tech twist to an old debate about how far activists can go to prevent migrants from dying on the border with Mexico without breaking the law.

Immigration hardliners argue the activists are aiding illegal entry to the US, a felony. Even migrants and their sympathizers question whether the device will make the treacherous journeys easier.