Group says it will block ports - but this time for real

Posted: Friday, October 31, 2014 8:29 am | Updated: 9:32 am, Fri Oct 31, 2014.
By Murphy Woodhouse

The protest group that organized and then called off a shutdown of the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry and other ports along the U.S.-Mexico border on Sept. 17 is set to try again, according to California-based organizer Stasyi Barth.

On Nov. 1, according to a press release, participants will attempt to shut down commercial ports “in seven cities in California, Arizona and Texas.”


According to Barth and the group’s website, the Mariposa Port of Entry will be the Nogales target this time and the action will start at 8 a.m. – if anyone shows up. Barth could not provide an estimated turnout but said that more than one person had confirmed for the Mariposa protest.


As with the previous effort, organizers of the “Shut Down All Ports” movement have asked participants to use their personal vehicles to block northbound traffic by parking them on roadways leaving the ports, but off of federal property.


By blocking ports along the border, the group says it hopes to pressure the U.S. government to enforce “current immigration laws,” not provide “amnesty for illegal aliens,” “end birthright citizenship,” and “establish English as the official language of the United States,” according to a statement of purpose on the Shut Down all Ports of Entry website.


As to the specific targeting of commercial ports instead of crossings more popular with pedestrians and passenger vehicles, Barth said she wanted “people to be aware that we have a lot of our commodities and food coming from south of the border, that we’re not self-reliant anymore.”


Lt. Carlos Jimenez of the Nogales Police Department said preparations are being made for the possible actions and NPD will respond as it did to the aborted Sept. 17 protest. He added that if the protest happens at the recently expanded Mariposa port, it will be logistically simpler for the department.


“If it’s Mariposa, that’s even better because Mariposa is very easy to control,” he said.


Less than seven hours before the previous protest was set to begin, Barth called it off, citing “an unsubstantiated threat of mass violence to attendees” from members of Mexican drug cartels.

http://www.nogalesinternational.com/...8665f3e03.html