HUNTERS FUELED BY HATE
April 4, 2005

            The undocumented immigrant-hunters congregating in Arizona during the month of April under the so-called “Minuteman Project” will meet with no success whatsoever in stemming the flow of immigrants into the United States. This is being done for effect alone, and smacks of racism besides. On the other hand, they are doing a good job of proving they haven’t a clue when it comes to the phenomenon of immigration, and may even pose grave dangers on the border.  These are hunters who are fueled by hate.

            Project Minuteman’s stated purpose is to create a “…blocking force against entry into the U.S. by illegal aliens, drug dealers and potential terrorists.” Close to two thousand volunteers will be patrolling the San Pedro Valley along the Arizona-Mexico border, “…spotting intruders entering the U.S. illegally.”  They claim they will make no arrests and will not even touch the undocumented immigrants, and instead will follow and report them to the Border Patrol until such time as they are arrested.  In other words, shadow them.

            What kind of people are these who can afford to spend 30 days without pay chasing around after undocumented immigrants? The irony of the situation is that the food these hunters consume and the houses they live in undoubtedly were harvested and built, respectively, by some of the very same immigrants they will be pursuing.  The old double standard in action: They complain about undocumented immigrants while reaping the rewards of their labors.

            Project Minuteman is an exercise in futility.  Its volunteers, taking justice into their own hands, plan to patrol a mere 20 miles of border, seemingly forgetful of the other 1,931 miles that stretch out between Mexico and the United States.  Any such attempt at holding back the undocumented is like trying to stanch the course of a river by throwing in a stone -- as with water, the immigrants will simply find they way around either side, along the path of least resistance.

            The real danger if this paramilitary operation, though, is that it may end up causing even more deaths along the border.  This is a very volatile situation.  The 500 additional agents already dispatched by the Border Patrol are insufficient to prevent acts of violence and save lives. The immigrants and the “coyotes” who guide them are well aware of what is going on at the Arizona border and will of course take other, more dangerous routes to gain entry to the United States. The end result of this “peaceful, lawful protest,” as they have described it, may end up taking a toll in human lives.

            Probably the only common ground shared by the anti-immigrant organizations such as Minuteman and those who defend the rights of the undocumented is that the border is out of control and something has to be done about it. These ultra-right-wing groups, just like the gangs of human-traffickers, may gain ascendancy owing to the border region’s vacuum of power. And that vacuum results in deaths.

            Here are the deadly statistics.  On an average day, four thousand people attempt to illegally cross the border from Mexico into the United States. Three thousand end up arrested, about a thousand of the undocumented do make it across, and one dies in the attempt. Given the odds in favor of survival—a mere one chance in a thousand of dying—the undocumented continue chancing it, day after day.

            In the final analysis, what is really important is that a lot of people are actually  dying at the border -- one every day, which is unacceptable. It has to stop.

            United States President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox have shown themselves to be clearly lacking in the political will to solve the problem of the mortalities along their common border. Of course, they make lots of speeches and complain about the goings-on, but have done nothing since 2000 specifically aimed at preventing the nearly 400 immigrant deaths that occur each year along the border.

            And what is that they could do?  Three things: 

1) Give legal status to the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are currently living in the United States according to the latest Pew Hispanic Center report.  Not simply a question of humanitarianism, it is also a matter of national security.  If the United States is to seriously undertake the war on terror, it must know who is living within its borders.  And, in passing, it could also be fair to those who make so important a contribution to this country’s economy.

2) Work out an immigration accord with Mexico. It is in this way alone that the orderly flow of much-needed immigrants into the United States can be achieved, while precluding fatalities along the border.

3) Create a truly sizeable U.S. investment program for Mexico and the rest of Latin America—a sort of regional Marshall Plan.  This would generate well-paid jobs in Latin America, thereby making the prospect of a trip to the United States that much less inviting to those who once saw it as their only economic alternative.

The immigration problem is not going to go away with a wave of a magic wand, nor with populist speeches, or visits to presidential ranches. As long as there are unemployed workers in Mexico and jobs for them in the United States, paying wages 10 times greater than those paid in Latin America, the flow of illegal immigrants will continue on its northerly path.

That is the reason why churlish xenophobic gestures such as The Minuteman Project will not solve a thing, and instead cast a glare on that great American contradiction, which is that a country that was created by immigrants has turned its back on them, leaving them to perish in the desert.