Frontera NorteSur June 2000

Immigrants trying to illegally cross the U.S.-México border from the south typically face life-threatening dangers including extreme weather conditions, lack of water and food, illness, disorientation, guides ("coyotes" or "polleros") who abandon the travelers and "la migra," or the U.S. Border Patrol. However, beginning this spring, immigrants, particularly those crossing into southern Arizona, are allegedly facing an increasing threat: U.S. vigilante groups.

According to the Mexican government, up to eight vigilantes groups, some that have been compared to the KKK, believe that the immigrants are deadbeats or "holgazanes," and are causing economic hardships and property damage, among other problems, for the U.S. citizens in the border region. These groups of mostly white male ranchers, have taken it upon themselves to bear arms and round up illegal immigrants they find on or near their property and turn them over to the U.S. Border Patrol.

This activity has allegedly endangered the lives of immigrants, and it has certainly humiliated and horrified already dispirited and struggling people who are searching for a better life. This hunting game has elevated the ire of activists and policy makers on both sides of the border and both sides of the issues, as well as caused quite a political stir from the capital of the U.S. to the capital of México.

The activity has been anonymously advertised as a sport or tourist attraction in a brochure that started circulating around April 20 in southern Arizona. Although it is private land that the "hunters" (cazadores) are protecting from the hundreds of immigrants crossing the desert, the vigilantes have been known to move their operations onto federal land and onto public roadways.

The groups published a letter to the U.S. Government in which they threatened that if the government does not take control of the "inundation" of illegal immigrants into the U.S., "it is possible that the friction between the invaders and the land owners will grow to the point of blood being spilled." This same letter also noted that the homes and loved ones of the ranchers are in danger, and government authorities have failed to respond, so the only recourse for the vigilantes is to take the law into their own hands.

"We know that the results will be ugly . . . but we want to be protected by the law and order that our government promises to provide," the letter to the U.S. government stated.

Below is a chronological list of news briefs related to this problem and detailing events from late April through mid-May as collected from an assortment of mostly Spanish language and some English language newspapers or news services.

On April 22 it was reported that a brochure that promoted vacationing in southern Arizona was anonymously distributed and encouraged tourists to come "help U.S. ranchers protect their property (from illegal immigrants) and enjoy the beautiful climate at the same time."

On April 28 it was reported that U.S. Ambassador to México, Jeffrey Davidow, chalked the problem on the border up to a lack of communications between U.S. and México and said that communications must improve before tragedy strikes. He promised that improved communication efforts were underway and that the U.S. officials were alarmed with the vigilantes' approach to solving immigration problems on the border. Every effort would be made to keep immigrants safe, according to Davidow.

On May 4 it was reported that the Mexican Ambassador to the U.S., Jesús Reyes Heroles, said that the U.S. has expressed its interest in helping resolve the anti-immigrant activity in Arizona.

It was also reported that the U.S. consul in Sonora, México, Ronald J. Kramer, said there is "no manhunt for undocumented immigrants in the U.S., and that the situation has been blown out of proportion. "We're talking about a very small group of ranchers. I believe the number of incidents has been small, but I don't want to say that this isn't a problem."

A Mexican delegation of 20 legislators representing all three parties announced that they will discuss the southern Arizona immigration situation at the 39th México-U.S. Interparliamentary Reunion in Puebla México from May 5-7 and are prepared to present the case to the United Nations.

It was also reported that brothers Roger and Don Barnett, leaders of the armed ranchers in southern Arizona, said the group is prepared to defend their stance in U.S. courts if the Mexican government pursues legal remedies against them. Allegedly these brothers have been the leaders in anywhere from 13 to 24 reported incidents over the last year detaining hundreds of immigrants, most of them Mexicans. Although they say they have conducted these armed round-ups with the agreement of the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix, it is the human rights violations that are being questioned by other authorities.

On May 7 leaders of "Voices of Citizens Together," led by Glenn Spencer, announced a May 14 meeting of many of the groups to include Light up the Border, Border Solution Task Force, Save Our State, Federation for the Control of Immigration, United We Stand and others. The meeting would be for the purpose of sharing information and ideas and not to increase tensions, according to a report in the Arizona Daily Star.

At the meeting the video "Immigration: Breaking the Bonds of our Nation," would be shown. The group's website says the video will demonstrate "who and what is behind the Mexican invasion of the American Southwest," according to the Star.

About this time, an internet article was circulated by Hector Carreon, a California activist for "La Raza" and writer for La Voz de Atzlan, which claims that "we must be ever vigilant of our collective safety. The Jews in Nazi Germany were caught unprepared and they paid a heavy price. We as La Raza should not make this same mistake. We must stand up against the enemy that is threatening to annihilate us."

On May 8, Tim Steller and Ignacio Ibarra published a report in the Arizona Daily Star in which the writers attempted getting "at the real story" because a number of so-called "alarmist" reports had been made regarding the situation in southern Arizona during late April and early May.

According to this report, Roger Barnett says that not much has changed in his practice of detaining immigrants, and that he and family members have turned over up to 3,000 undocumented travelers to the Border Patrol over the last couple of years. "I'm not going to stop what I'm doing. That would be like admitting defeat," Barnett said. However, when the Barnetts pulled over vehicles on public roads, they went beyond protecting their own property, according to José Angel Pescador Osuna, a Mexican spokesperson.

Osuna acknowledged some Mexican responsibility for the increasing immigration to the U.S., however, he noted that comprehensive solutions are needed such as revitalizing the "bracero" program, currently supported by Douglas, Arizona Mayor Ray Borane and Arizona Governor Jane Hull, which would legalize immigrant workers as occurred during World War II.

Also on May 8, it was announced that at the meeting in Puebla, México, Mexican and U.S. officials agreed to investigate the situation in southern Arizona, and a bilateral commission was formed which will travel to Arizona.

On May 11 a SUN report stated that vigilante groups demanded that the U.S. put military troops on the U.S.-México border to stop the invasion of undocumented people into the U.S. territory, they wanted the presence of the National Guard in Tucson. Protesters gathered in Douglas carrying signs that read, "Stop the Invasion," "We Want the National Guard in Tucson."

It was also reported by SUN that two white men shot a Mexican immigrant who was resting in an abandoned car in the desert, trying to get out of the heat (122 degrees Fahrenheit) outside of Yuma, Arizona.

On May 12 it was reported that 250 soldiers of the Corps of Engineers will begin the construction of a barricade in both Luna and Doña Ana counties in southern New Mexico to assist the U.S. Border Patrol. The barricade will deter both illegal immigration and drug trafficking, both activities having grown recently more popular near Columbus, New Mexico.

On May 13 it was reported by Notimex news service that 250 U.S. Border Patrol agents will be sent to the border in southern Arizona to bring security to both migrants and residents in the area. The Border Patrol will also receive new high tech equipment including remote controls, all terrain vehicles and night vision devices.

The Sun reported that Rosario Green Macías, Mexican secretary of state, fears that the situation in southern Arizona could adversely effect the close ties between the U.S. and México. She understands the importance of all citizens, Mexican and from the U.S., defending their property, but not by carrying weapons. The official also announced that she has invited a representative from the immigration department of the United Nations to México to discuss the situation with ranchers in southern Arizona.

Another Notimex report published in El Diario, stated that two Mexican immigrants were shot in Douglas, Arizona; one by a rancher and another by Border Patrol agents. Miguel Angel Palafox Arreguín, 20, was shot numerous times by ranchers and remained in critical condition as of the May 13 report. The other was apparently with a group of immigrants when a patrol agent shot at them and they retaliated by throwing rocks.

According to a SUN editorial, ranchers persecuting immigrants is nothing new. In 1924 a group known as the Texas Ranchers became famous for their vigilante activities on horseback to protect their land. There have also been incidents as recently as 1976 in Douglas, Arizona and 1985 in Cochise County where ranching families detained immigrants and tortured and shackled them.

On May 14 more than 100 representatives of anti-immigrant groups met in Sierra Vista, Arizona to discuss their actions against "the plague" and "the invasion" of immigrants into the U.S. Glenn Spencer, leader of Voices of Citizens Together said that this "dangerous invasion" can not continue. "The ranchers of Arizona are not alone, all North Americans are with us."

The groups' demands include the installation of more Border Patrol agents and the National Guard on the U.S.-México border, and they announced their web page where people are invited to discuss the effort.

Spencer also said that "You need to understand that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service is traitor to the U.S. and was put here to destroy our border." Spencer believes that the Ford Company and U.S. President William Clinton are sacrificing the U.S. for the sake of globalization and for their own ambitions to gain more world power. "We are importing poverty and the culture of the third world which is precisely what is going to destroy México." The activist believes the borders should be sealed.

On May 15 El Norte reported that the opinion of the anti-immigrant ranchers in southern Arizona is not shared by everyone in the region. Victoria Ortel, who owns a 65 acre ranch on the border, told Notimex that there are many in the region who are not participating in the detention of immigrants and do not support the ranchers who do or the idea that the border should be militarized. Ortel believes that the anti-immigration ranchers are frustrated by the inaction of government officials, however, militarization will not solve the problems.

This rancher does not feel threatened by the immigrants that cross her property daily. "The majority of them are indigent," children, elders and women.

Source: El Diario, El Norte, Arizona Daily Star, Notimex, SUN, La Voz de Atzlan