Frontera NorteSur November 2000

Women Afraid to Call the Police

García stated that one of the many effects of more Border Patrol agents in the region is that undocumented women residing near the border in Texas are often afraid to call the police in situations of domestic violence. This is because Border Patrol often ride with local law-enforcement agents as a means to use routine traffic stops as a way to question people about their nationality. Not wanting to risk deportation the women suffer abuse and/or life threatening situations, according to García. What is worse is that a woman could be married to an abusive US citizen, have children that are US citizens, suffer abuse by the citizen husband and yet find herself deported after calling the police while her abusive husband remains with their children. Indeed, legal service agencies in Texas often have cases where husbands use their legal residency or citizenship as a way to keep undocumented wives from leaving them.

Home Invasion

Another story which García hears frequently is that second- and even third-generation US citizens living in colonias near the border often face harassment by the growing number of Border Patrol agents in the region. Members of communities along the Rio Grande have complained to García that they are often questioned by the BP solely because they speak Spanish or in García's words "look Mexican" or are "dark-skinned." Some colonia residents have even gone outside their homes to find BP agents in their backyards and, when agents want to enter homes, they may do so under the pretext that they were in pursuit of a suspect, according to García.

Terrorized U.S. Citizens

Finally, García tells the story of a US motorist, "Mexican" in appearance, who had pulled off the road near Canutillo on a hot day when he felt ill and unable to safely continue. He was resting when a Border Patrol vehicle drove past him, made a U-turn and stopped near his car. The man was glad that the vehicle had come back for him as he thought that the agent or agents might offer him some assistance. Help was not offered however.

The man told García that the first person out of the Border Patrol vehicle ran at him with gun drawn yelling at him to get down on the pavement. "I'm a US citizen," he replied still standing and not wanting to get down on pavement that would have been burning hot on such a day. The agent ordered him down again but the man replied saying that he was a US citizen, thinking that nothing else should matter to the Border Patrol.

The agent with the gun was not Border Patrol however--he was local law enforcement. The agent insisted that the man get down and finally he did so still stating, angrily now, that he was a US citizen. Someone must not have liked his behavior or tone of voice so one of the agents pepper sprayed him in the face. Later an ambulance had to be called to take care of the man because of the effects of the pepper spray.

When it was finally discovered that the man was indeed a US citizen he was charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest in a typical case of law-enforcement CYA--press charges in case the aggrieved, former suspect presses charges. Later, in court, both charges against the man were dropped by the judge.

The Role of the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project

The origins of the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project are in 1986 and 1987 when the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) became aware of and started documenting abuse of immigrants' human rights by the INS and Border Patrol. In 1989-1990 a human-rights office was opened in Houston by María Jiménez with support from the AFSC. Subsequent offices were then opened in Harlingen, Tucson, San Diego and El Paso. The El Paso office opened in the period 1990-1991.

Previously known as the Border Rights Coalition until last year, Fernando García, the Project's director since 1998, changed the organization's name to the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project. At that time García arrived the BRC was doing an excellent job of documenting human rights abuses in the region, filing complaints with the INS and the Border Patrol and filing lawsuits in some instances. One of the BRC's major victories was when it helped stop the Border Patrol from going to Bowie High School in El Paso to look for undocumented persons among the students there.

However, despite the BRC's good work, García noted that the amount of reported abuse only seemed to be rising perhaps due to the increase of agents on the border or due to increased anti-immigrant sentiment as expressed by the 1996 Immigration Law. "Our problem was that we did not see abuse cases as social phenomena. We did not consider the community," said García. "Our approach should be social not just legal and individualistic."

Training Human Rights Promotoras

García's realization that social change must take place if there are to be advances in the area of human rights gave initiative to the Project's attempts to train citizens to become human rights educators and promotors. Rather than spend all of his time documenting abuses, García wanted to others to do the documentation. In turn, these individuals would instruct more people and geometric growth could take place in the number of human rights advocates on the border.

The Project had its first large, human rights training program in Las Cruces, NM in 1999. In attendance were members of the Colonias Development Council and people from the Hatch, Anthony and Las Cruces areas. Not only were attendees educated about their own rights, what do if there are rights are being violated and how to file a human-rights abuse report after that, but they were also shown how to train other people in their communities to become knowledgeable and active in the field. The Project also provided them with the necessary educational material to train others and material that they can use to document abuses.

The next training and information meetings were held in Socorro, TX, San Ilizario, TX, Horizon, TX (all three east of El Paso and near the border) Columbus, NM, Ciudad Juárez and downtown El Paso. Later, as people felt the need for co-ordination between the various groups and areas the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project helped form the Consejo Regional Ciudadano in May, 2000. At these meetings, held monthly on an alternating basis between New Mexico, Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, people from the different regions can come together to know meet one other, compare stories and develop strategy. Soon the Consejo will launch a regional abuse documentation campaign.

The Future

The Project's goals for the near future include numerous events that will further link people from different states and Mexico in the hopes of educating more people as to what their rights are and what they can do if their rights are violated. On November 2, 2000, the Day of the Dead, the Project will erect over 200 crosses near the border to commemorate the lives of the 388 people who, according to García, died this year trying to cross the border.

To mark the International Day for Human Rights on December 10, 2000 the Consejo will be going door-to-door from December 8 until December 10 in an attempt to document past human rights abuses. The group will be going to homes and churches in a number of communities over the course of the project's three days. At the operation's conclusion the Consejo hopes to have gained an idea of how many people have experienced abuse in the region's border communities. Also, the release of the findings will hopefully make an impact on the public and government perception of human rights abuses on the border.