Thread: Cracks in the iron curtain: Congress dawdles as border probl

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Cracks in the iron curtain: Congress dawdles as border problems multiply

By Peggy Andrews | Special to the Vermont Guardian

As Congress delays action on immigrant reform, hundreds of people die in the Arizona Sonora Desert each year. Meanwhile, civilians organized into what they have named the Minuteman Project patrol the United States-Mexican border with guns, complicating the work of Border Patrol personnel and sometimes threatening U.S. citizens who have been mistaken for migrants and drug smugglers.

Many of the current problems at the border can be traced to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 1994. Economically linking Canada, the United States, and Mexico, NAFTA was supposed to increase trade and improve all three economies. After 10 years, however, 1.5 million Mexican farmers have lost their farms as cheap U.S. corn has caused the prices received by Mexican farms to drop by 70 percent.

In manufacturing, Mexican workers’ pay has dropped from $5 per day to $4, neither a living wage. In 2003, only 6.5 million people were working in agriculture, a drop from 8 million when NAFTA began.

Under NAFTA, Mexico also had to change its constitution to allow foreign ownership of land. This allowed foreign investors to take over small farms that went into debt due to the low corn prices. In addition, NAFTA required the elimination of programs that supported the small farmers, further exacerbating their problems.

The largest group of migrants crossing the border are farmers who can not make a living or have lost their farms.

In 1999, the government began using the large iron plates that had served to build air strips on the desert sand in the Middle East as an “Iron Curtain� at San Ysidro, south of San Diego, to keep out those attempting to cross the border in the urban area. This also has been the case at Nogales, AZ, south of Tucson.

This new “Iron Curtain� has succeeded in stopping the flow in urban areas, but it hasn’t halted the migration. Rather, it has forced more people to cross in the desert, where the summer heat is well over 100 degrees and it takes at least five days to make the trip. Hundreds die each year.

U.S. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-AZ, said, “These innocent people die as a direct result of cruel immigration laws and unjust border policy.�

Although immigration reform has been hotly debated in the U.S. Congress, little concrete action has been taken. Rep. Grijlva, the son of a migrant worker who came here under the infamous Bracero Program, understands the problems first hand and supports some kind of reform. But he questions most suggestions made so far because they aren’t comprehensive in addressing the issues.

One proposal, embraced by Pres. Bush, addresses only the issue of worker permits. Another, proposed by House Judiciary Committee chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-WI, focuses on developing a national ID card for everyone in the United States.

Grijalva has joined with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-MA, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Bob Menendez, D-NJ, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-IL, chair of the Democratic Caucus Immigration Task Force, and members of the congressional Hispanic Caucus to sponsor the Safe, Orderly, Legal Visas and Enforcement Act. Known as SOLVE, the bill focuses on family reunification, earned access to legalization, immigrant student adjustment, an enhanced temporary worker program, and enhanced national security.

Family reunification is supposed to help families that have been separated. Earned access allows those who are here working, adding to our tax rolls and studying to improve their lives, to become legal citizens. Immigrant student adjustment supports opportunities for the children of immigrant workers to compete for places in higher education.

The enhanced temporary worker program would provide visas to protect the workers from exploitation and wage cuts, and enhanced national security means that Border Patrol officials would focus on drug smugglers and other criminal persons.

Although SOLVE does move toward a comprehensive approach, it doesn’t address why so many Mexicans are entering illegally or the need for an overhaul of NAFTA.

Ranchers along the border are suffering great losses because of the people smugglers’ (Coyotes) crossings. They find gates left open and fences cut. In some cases, cattle have eaten plastic bags and developed bloated stomachs.

Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-AZ, has acknowledged that 99 percent of those who cross are looking for work and aren’t criminals. But the 1 percent who traffic in drugs and people smuggling are doing damage and carrying weapons.

When I visited Altar Sonora, Mexico, a staging town for illegal migrants now that the “Iron Curtain� is up in Nogales, the people there, mostly young men, said they were coming for work and not to destroy property.

The area also must deal with vigilante groups such as the American Border Patrol, and now Chris Simcox, owner of the Tombstone Tumbleweed newspaper, has formed the Minuteman Project to Southern Arizona with the help of California’s Jim Gilchrist.

“The Minuteman� takes its name from the New England group that formed to fight in the American Revolution, and includes men and women from across the U.S., some of them armed, who feel they need to protect the border because the Border Patrol isn’t doing its job. Nevertheless, each day the Tucson section of the Border Patrol arrests hundreds of crossers.

The Department of Homeland Security is aware of the issues and has increased the number of agents, and added new technology such as night vision goggles, infra red cameras, ground sensing devices, unmanned drones, and helicopters.

A U.S. Border Patrol spokesman claimed the “Minutemen� were unwittingly tripping sensors that alert agents to intruders. Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jose Maheda complained that agents have been forced to respond to false alarms. “Every sensor has to be addressed,� he said. “It has taken away from our normal operations.�

One of the greatest fears is the violence that is possible when citizens carrying guns look for migrants. In cases brought to Cochise County law enforcement officials, vigilantes reportedly have drawn guns on citizens thinking they were migrants, sent a dog to attack, and even held hostages.

Other groups are working to save some of the lives put at risk by walking in the 100 degrees of the Arizona Sonora Desert. For example, Humane Borders provides water stations for the migrants, groups like the Samaritan Patrol and No More Deaths offer medical help, and the Border Action Network assists with legal issues. All of them work with the Border Patrol, which also has its own Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue team.


Peggy Andrews a freelance writer who lives near Tucson.

how many American farms and homes have been lost to inheritance taxes, income taxes and civil forfeiture over the past 10 years? How many American workers have lost jobs due to "illegal" workers? How many hospitals have closed because of indigent care?


those are the concerns of Congress ... CANCEL ALL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS if that's the problem

It is rather apparent that this Peggy Andrews does not have the slightest clue what she is talking about when she gets on the MMP subject.


Do you think we could start a colection to buy the Border Patrol more iron plates for the "Iron Curtain".

You beat me to the punch Charlesoakisland

I was going to say the same thing, this is exactly what you get from MSM, lies and distortions.

They are a large part of what we are up against.

Originally Posted by Charlesoakisland

It is rather apparent that this Peggy Andrews does not have the slightest clue what she is talking about when she gets on the MMP subject.

even the Border Patrol union said it was the ACLU spying on the Minutemen that set off the sensors. The way people talk about the MMP you'd think they were a bunch of "foreign invaders" that weren't entitled to the rights under OUR Constitution

Well do you all think we need to send a few emails to this rag Vermont Guardian and let them know what we think of ms Peggy Andrews ??