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Minuteman Project invades Southern Arizona, highlights complexity of border crisis
by jessica lee
Sunday, Apr. 03, 2005 at 5:26 AM
Minuteman Project began patrols of small stretch of Arizona-Mexico border on April 1, highlighting the complexity of the border crisis. While the vigilante, border activist and humanitarian groups all agree U.S. immigration policy is flawed, the dispute on how to fix the border is clashing out in the desert heat.
There was no fooling around April 1 when hundreds of “vigilantes” swarmed to defend small stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border, picking up the slack where they say the government is failing to stop the so-called “invasion of mobs of illegal aliens and terrorists.” The month-long gathering, dubbed the Minuteman Project, has attracted volunteers from all of the country to come camp in the desert and monitor the border.
Yet, the story of the weekend was the flocks of media that crept into the Southern Arizona desert, often times outnumbering the number of Minuteman volunteers and the dozens of protestors that met to confront them.
Many have criticized the amount of media attention, saying that they paid too much attention to a project that may or may not be successful. “The media has become a story in itself,” said Bisbee resident Mike Anderson as he stood on Highway 80 with a sign Saturday morning. “I want the media to go home and the vigilantes to go home with their guns,” he said.
Organized primarily to reap media attention to a region wrought with conflict and controversy rather than slow down the amount of undocumented travelers,
the project has been called patriotic by some and racist by others.
Throughout April, Chris Simcox, the Minuteman Project leader, hopes to have participants stationed along a 20 mile stretch of Arizona to help Border Patrol spot undocumented crossers. While the Minuteman Project boasted to have more than 1,000 volunteers registered, no media source has confirmed the number. Reports on Saturday varied between 115 and 460 volunteers showed up, depending on the source.
It is impossible to know how many undocumented people enter the U.S. through Arizona each year. Andrea Zortman, U.S. Border Patrol public information officer in Douglas, said that between 1,500 and 2,000 undocumented migrants are apprehended each day in the Tucson sector, a stretch of border from New Mexico to near Yuma, Ariz. According to the Border Patrol, 90 percent of those apprehended are returned to México.
The majority of migrants journey across the border to seek work with U.S. business that rely on their cheap labor to maintain profits. “The current border policy doesn’t supplement the economic needs that employers depend on,” says Kat Rodriguez, organizer with Derechos Humanos, a non-profit organization that focuses on solutions to border issues.
Josh, a Minuteman Project volunteer from New Mexico, believes that U.S. businesses are to partly to blame for the amount of migrant traffic into the country and the loss of American jobs. “We need to have penalties for businesses that hire illegal immigration,” Sokoloff, a University of Oregon political science graduate, said. “It won’t happen because the corporations are running the country.”
The Minuteman Project also say the border needs to be sealed to keep out terrorist from entering the country. “I feel we need to protect our borders because we don’t need another 9/11,” said Robin Heathorn, who is on the Minuteman Project waiting list with her husband.
While many in the project say they are scared, the number of other than Mexicans (OTMs) who are apprehended are from the Middle East are very low. “Approximately 97 to 98 percent of those apprehended are Mexican nationals. From the remaining 2 to 3 percent, the majority are from Central or South America,” Zortman said.
While the Minuteman Project advocates its volunteers remain “peaceful” and obey all Arizona laws, human rights groups worry about the safety of the migrants who journey through the desert in an attempt to find jobs.
A team of legal observers will head down to Southern Arizona for the entire month to monitor the Minuteman Project to make sure they obey First Amendment and other laws governing the treatment of migrants.
“Through my eyes, the problem is that what occurs on the U.S.-México border is one of the grossest human rights violations in the history of the United States,” wrote Ray Ybarra, American Civil Liberty Union spokesperson, in a letter to Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever earlier in March. “Here in our backyard, human beings have to face death and hatred in their pursuit of work that this country offers.”
Although the group denies racists accusations, the likelihood that violent white supremacists will get involved are a realistic concern for human rights groups, civil rights groups, activists, local citizens, and U.S. and Mexican authorities. Less than a week before the Minuteman Project was set to begin, white supremist group, the National Alliance, dispersed fliers in Douglas, Arizona, Ybarra said.
Humanitarian and border activist groups have been addressing violence and deaths along the border for years by organizing vigils, marches, protests, aid camps and patrols, petitioning of government officials, and teach-ins. More than sixty Women in Black members lined the Naco Highway within sight of the border on April 2 with the message to end violence and terrorism.
Arizonans opposed to the Minuteman Project hope to educate the public about the real causes of the mass migration. “As residents of the border region, we have seen first hand the effects of border militarization these vigilantes are calling for,” said Lenny Molina, Earth First! member and participant in the counter-demonstration that drew approximately 60 people to Tombstone, Ariz. on April 1. “Militarization accelerates the destruction of desert ecosystems and indigenous cultures and destroys the lives of people who are ultimately refugees of U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America.” Danza Azteca Cuauhtemoc (Descending Eagle) traditional warrior dancers performing ancient Aztec dances took the show while other protestors held signs and banged on pots and pans, symbolizing the empty pots of hungry people who migrate to find a better life.
Since the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) implementation in 1994, the economic consequences of the neoliberal trade policy has created a multifaceted crisis that now dominates the 2,000 mile U.S.-Mexico border.
“What the U.S. did with Canada and Mexico has created a complex problem,” Sokoloff said while on patrol on the border. “The economy is not recovering like Bush is saying.”
“Economically violent policies like NAFTA force people off their land and out of their communities,” said Jonathan Shapiro, employee with BorderLinks, a non-profit organization that leads experiential education border trips. “When these economic refuges arrive at our southern border, they’re met by a corrupt border policy,” Shapiro said.
No More Deaths, a coalition of border activist and humanitarian groups, estimate that more than 3,000 migrants have lost their lives while crossing the U.S.- México border since the 1990s.
The militarization of the border has drastically transformed the fragile desert land over the past decade. Today, the region is characterized by trails of empty water jugs, backpacks, clothing and other items dropped by individuals daring to cross the border without legal documentation. Weaving through the saguaros and washes are endless vehicle tracks of Border Patrol trucks, drug runners, and pick-up drivers. Black helicopters and unmanned drones patrol the desert by sky, searching for human beings with infrared cameras. Families living in Nogales, one city divided by the border, see a large concrete and steel wall topped with barbed wire everyday. Mammals, such as the Sonoran pronghorn and Mexican jaguar, have had their habitats fragmented by walls, fences and other human disturbances.
While the Minuteman Project may monitor the border for a month, the U.S. government continues to push the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) and the comprehensive Free Trade of the Americas Agreement (FTAA), large-scale economic policies that will likely increase the amount of Latin American economic refugees seeking a better life.
A weekend of protests ignites as Minuteman Project begins patrolling small stretch of Arizona border
The clashing of pots and pans could be heard inside Schieffelin Hall where the Minuteman Project members were registering and listening to opening remarks on April 1. More than seventy counter-demonstrators say the vigilante grassroots border watch group is not going to solve the border problem and will likely intensify the conflict.
“As residents of the border region, we have seen first hand the effects of border militarization these vigilantes are calling for,” said Lenny Molina, Earth First! member and participant in the counter-demonstration that drew approximately 60 people to Tombstone, Ariz. on April 1. “Militarization accelerates the destruction of desert ecosystems and indigenous cultures and destroys the lives of people who are ultimately refugees of U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America”
Protestors held signs and banged on pots and pans, an action called “cacerolazo.” “Cacerolazo is a traditional form of Latin American protest that symbolizes pots empty because people are hungry,” said Abigail Singer, who came from Tucson for the demonstration. “We did it as a show of solidarity for Latin Americans who are forced out of communities by United States foreign economy policy and travel over the border in the attempt to feed their families.”
Leading the march to Schieffelin Hall was the Danza Azteca Cuauhtemoc (Descending Eagle) traditional warrior dancers who performed ancient Aztec dances to a rapid drum beat, and drew the most attention from the media.
Approximately one hundred Minuteman Project volunteers either ignored the protestors or exchanged words.
“What the protestors is doing is illegal. They support people who break the law by crossing the border illegally,” said Doris Reser. Reser, who lives in New Mexico and supports the Minuteman Project.
No physical violence or arrests occurred throughout the afternoon. The Cochise County Sheriff called up the Arizona Rangers, an Arizona law enforcement auxiliary, to help secure the event. The FBI were also present.
Dozens of media representatives were present throughout the weekend, often times outnumbering the number of protestors and Minutemen Project volunteers. Many have criticized the amount of media attention, saying that they paid too much attention to a project that may or may not be successful. “The media has become a story in itself,” said Bisbee resident Mike Anderson. “I want the media to go home and the vigilantes to go home with their guns,” he said. Anderson stood outside Bisbee on Highway 80 Saturday morning with a sign reading, “Minutemen: Don’t need you. Don’t want you. Go home.” Anderson estimated that the support he was receiving by people honking and waving was 4 to 1.
Further east at the U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters in Douglas and Naco, approximately one-hundred Minutemen Project volunteers rallied with flags and signs, showing support for Border Patrol agents. They also wanted to send a message to the White House to demand that President Bush and Congress “give a blank check” to the Department of Homeland Security to do their job to secure the border.
“All 50 states are being invaded and we are representing the invasion of Texas,” said Wanda Cisco Shultz, a Houston resident who brought a Texas flag and a stereo playing the Texas fight song. “We are sending a message to President Bush and Congress to do their job.”
Holding a Mexican flag and a large banner that read, “Esta es mi tierra, esta es mi lucha” (This is my land, this is my struggle) members of the National Alliance for Human Rights stood across the street from the Minuteman Project.
“We have come out to support people who are economic refugees, which is a consequence of U.S. foreign policy,” said Hector Muro. “The Minuteman Project will be trying to detain people whose only crime is trying to find a bite to eat.”
Twenty miles away with the steel and cement border wall within sight, more than 60 Women in Black protestors led a vigil for those who died crossing the border. Holding signs and wearing black clothing along Naco Highway, the protestors hoped to send a message to the Minuteman Project.
“Women in Black represent non-violence and we wear black in mourning of the loss of life to violence. It is hard to support the Minuteman Project,” said Debbie Klimek, a Bisbee resident.
Robert King, employee with the Department of Homeland Security, took a break from work to come down to the vigil. “The Minuteman Project is putting out the message that nothing is being done on the border, but something is.” King is a geotechnical inspector for KleinFelder, an engineering firm contracted by the Department of Homeland Security to build new portions of the border wall.
King oversees the construction of a new type of wall called bollard fencing. The wall is composed of 15 foot tall steel pieces filled with cement, spaced every six inches. Working six weeks at a time and overseeing a crew of off-duty Army and Marines who have returned from Iraq, King says that he has witnessed many peaceful crossers and have only been near gun fire a couple times. “It is a catch-22,” King says, “the migrants are looking for work and taking jobs Americans won’t do, which keeps down the price of many items like lettuce.”
The Minuteman Project reports to have organized eight patrol stations, with three shifts throughout the day with at least four people per shift. Volunteers were seen set up along Border Road, approximately between Naco and Douglas.
Legal observers from the American Civil Liberties Union have organized to monitor the Minuteman Project to make sure that no First Amendment freedoms or migrants' human rights are violated. The legal observers said they received verbal insults and racists comments from some Minuteman Project volunteers, said Beth Sanders, legal observer from Tucson.
Additional Indymedia resources:
http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/25634.php
http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/25579.php