Thread: 'Retiree,' 84, has been working for decades on border reform

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/103361

Tucson Region
'Retiree,' 84, has been working for decades on border reforms
By Lourdes Medrano
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.20.2005
Immigration reform has become a hot topic on Capitol Hill, where politicians from left to right are pushing a range of plans that aim to get a handle on the porous U.S.-Mexican border.

But as members of Congress consider legislation to strengthen border security and other proposals for immigration reform, most of them are years behind Tucson retiree Wes Bramhall on the issue.

Bramhall, who has been devoted to the cause since the 1980s, continues to lobby anyone who'll listen, and even those who don't, about the need to halt the steady flow of illegal border-crossers into the United States.

"It's an invasion," Bramhall said with indignation about those who sneak into the country. "They get across the border to take work away from our people and depress wages."

Bramhall, 84, is the driving force behind Arizonans for Immigration Control, a group of mostly retirees that promotes a crackdown on illegal immigration and reduced levels of legal immigration.

He has no patience for those who advocate lax immigration laws and argue that illegal workers merely accept the jobs Americans reject.

"All that really gets under my skin," said Bramhall, whose golden years are punctuated by protests, monthly discussion meetings and occasional trips to the border.

Retirement is not exactly what he had envisioned as a working union man. A lineman with Tucson Electric Power for most of his 38 years with the company, Bramhall figured he would devote the rest of his days to hunting, fishing and photographing wildlife.

Instead, he spends much of his time organizing meetings and compiling immigration-related information for a monthly newsletter. A Democrat-turned-Republican who bashes both parties with equal passion, Bramhall blames politicians for the collapse of the nation's immigration system.

The solution, he said, is to put the military on the border, build a fence if necessary and aggressively go after employers who hire illegal workers for their cheap labor. Without employment, the millions of people living in the country illegally will have no choice but to return home, he said, adding that they shouldn't be rewarded with legal status for breaking immigration laws.

Bramhall has fired off plenty of letters letting President Bush, members of Congress and state representatives know exactly how he feels. He's led protests at the office of U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., the Mexican Consulate in Tucson and Border Patrol stations in Naco and Bisbee.
Jim Nixon, 77, and Laura Leighton, 59, both members of Arizonans for Immigration Control, say Bramhall continues to lead the organization as president after so many years because of his dedication and knowledge.

Kat Rodriguez, an organizer with the immigrant-advocacy group Derechos Humanos, said Bramhall and his group are irresponsible for spreading misinformation based on misconceptions.

"The continuing scapegoating of immigrant communities is nothing new," she said. "Every new immigrant group has had to face that."

But Bramhall sees his efforts as a way to build a better nation. "I'm just a concerned citizen," said the retiree, who moved here from Connecticut at 23 for his asthma. Time has weakened his hearing, but his gait is steady and his grip firm. On his birthday each July, he dons his old lineman equipment and climbs the tall juniper in his backyard just to prove he can.

Bramhall has no plans to quit working for what he believes in.

"I'm doing this for my grandchildren," he said, strolling around the five acres he bought on the city's East Side in 1948. In his living room, family photos mark important events and mounted heads of deer, antelope and javelina attest to Bramhall's former zeal for hunting.

Outside, his 1963 Dodge pick-up truck is patched with bumper stickers flaunting his anti-immigration stance and his support for gun rights, like-minded politicians and the Minutemen.

Bramhall has been called a racist, but he rejects the label. And death threats by anonymous callers in the middle of the night have made him cautious about his privacy.

Even so, Bramhall said he feels no regrets about the turn his life took in the 1980s when he became involved in the successful effort to make Arizona an English-only state.

Later, when the Arizona Supreme Court struck down the measure as illegal and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to overturn the ruling, Bramhall responded by forming Arizonans for Immigration Reform, which later changed its name.

Bramhall said government should conduct its business in English and not cater to ethnic groups in different languages. "If you have different languages, you can't understand each other."

Immigrants should strive to become Americans and shouldn't be called anything else because it serves only to divide the country, Bramhall said.

The way he sees it, both illegal immigration and out-of-control legal immigration have done enough to tear the nation apart.

It's not that he doesn't sympathize with illegal border-crossers from Mexico, the country which contributes the bulk of illegal workers in the United States.

"Let's put it this way," Bramhall said. "If I didn't have any work, if I didn't have any land - I would no doubt be the first one across the border. But we cannot support the world; we have enough problems taking care of our own people."

Retirement is not exactly what he had envisioned as a working union man. A lineman with Tucson Electric Power for most of his 38 years with the company, Bramhall figured he would devote the rest of his days to hunting, fishing and photographing wildlife.

This gentleman recognized the problem with illegal immigration 25+ years and has been fighting ever since. Sadly he isn't able to enjoy his golden years doing things he'd looked forward to.