July 30, 2003

From July 15 to July 28, over 20 people have died trying to enter the United States. In the first 23 days of July, 44 bodies have now been found in Arizona alone. Below are a few of the victims’ stories.

July 15: Delia Atilano Herrera, 45 years old, and a Mexican citizen, collapses for the last time in the Arizona desert, moaning her husband’s name and begging her 15-year-old daughter, Aline, to leave her to die in the desert. The teen gathered up the strength to climb over rocks in a desperate search Tuesday afternoon for water, people or anything to save her dying mother. Just inside the Mexican border, bandits robbed Aline and her mother of their jewelry. They hoped to reach Ohio, where Aline’s father lives.

July 16: Border Patrol Agents find the body of a woman who died of heat exhaustion near Jacumba, California.

July 17: The body of a man is found west of the San Pedro River, in Arizona. He remains unidentified.

July 19: Juan Carlos Lopez Hernandez, 30, of Mexico, dies from heat exposure southeast of Sierra Vista, Arizona. Lopez Hernandez and several companions arrived in the Naco, Mexico area Friday. There they joined up with a group that was led west for several hours before crossing. By mid-day Saturday, Lopez Hernandez felt ill. He was assisted by his companions, who attempted to carry him after he lost consciousness. Some of his friends chose to stay with him, as others went for help. The man was dead by the time authorities arrived.

July 20: The bodies of a man and woman are found only yards apart from each other near Arizona 85 on the Barry M. Goldwater Range, in southwestern Arizona.

July 21: An immigrant attempting to evade a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter Monday is struck by a vehicle as he ran across Arizona 86 west of Tucson.

July 21: Early in the afternoon, the bodies of two Mexican women are found near Big Fields, a village seven miles west of Sells on the Tohono O’odham Nation, in Arizona. The bodies were found after a companion of the two women, who have not been identified, walked out in search of help and notified Border Patrol agents.

July 22: Border Patrol agents discover unidentified skeletal remains of a suspected immigrant east of Arizona 286 north of Sasabe.

July 25: The wife of a Mexican man living legally in the United States is found dead in the early morning about 12 miles east of Douglas, Arizona. Border Patrol agents learned of the missing woman one day earlier after being flagged down by her husband, who told them she had been left behind in the area.

July 25: The body of a 56-year-old Mexican man is found at 12:30 p.m. on the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona. A Border Patrol agent found the badly decomposed body along an electrical power line road, the man appeared to have been dead for three to five days.

Vigilante Justice: The Extreme Consequence of a Failed Immigration Policy

Immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border through Arizona are now seven times more likely to die than they were five years ago. (Arizona Republic, 7/17/03) A more deadly border is just one of the unintended consequences of the U.S. southwest border strategy, which has concentrated resources in highly populated areas such as San Diego and El Paso. As migration routes were rerouted through communities unaccustomed to heavy flows of undocumented travelers, another alarming result has been a surge in vigilante groups, who have taken the task of rounding up illegal immigrants into their own hands.

Such groups can be found all along the border, but the greatest concentration seems to be in the Arizona border region where groups have arrived from out of state, hoping to capitalize on residents’ alarm over the rising tide of illegal immigration in the area. As a result, “The Arizona border has become the flashpoint for America’s far-right anti-immigration movement,” according to Bill Straus, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Vigilante groups, such as Civil Homeland Defense (CHD), Ranch Rescue, and the American Border Patrol, organize U.S. civilians, who are often heavily armed, into patrol groups to stake out and detain those they suspect of illegally entry until the U.S. Border Patrol arrives.

Though the groups are not known to be responsible for any deaths along the border, residents say it is just a matter of time before someone gets hurt or killed. Texas Ranger Doyle Holdridge agrees: “If you’re a police officer, out there in the darkness, and someone raises up out of the brush in full camo[uflage] with an assault rifle, what are you going to think? It’s a disaster waiting to happen.” (ADL report)

It is also dangerous for citizens to take the law into their own hands because those “patrolling” with vigilante groups do not necessarily have any experience or training in making arrests. Their lack of oversight and incomplete knowledge of migrants’ rights leaves the door open to abuse. For example, two volunteers with the group Ranch Rescue were arrested in March of this year for beating a Salvadoran man they had detained.

Vigilante groups not only threaten physical safety in border communities, but have also employed a racist ideology and fear tactics that have created significant tension in the area. Though vigilantes have denied charges of racism, white supremacist and anti-government extremist groups have embraced the vigilante’s rhetoric, bringing unwanted hate groups into border communities.

Vigilantes have attempted to justify their militant “by any means necessary” approach by appealing to post-Sept. 11 fears about homeland security, and using the “war on terrorism” to justify their aggressive tactics. In a memo circulated by Chris Simcox of Civil Homeland Defense this spring, “Once we enter war with Iraq, CHD will deter, detain and apprehend anyone who attempts to flee a CHD citizen volunteer.” He went on to advise, “If aggressors attempt to forcefully enter our country they will be repelled with force if necessary!”

Though vigilante leaders have openly challenged the legitimacy of law enforcement agencies, little has been done to stop the spread of vigilante groups, according to a report by the Border Action Network. Authorities’ inaction has become tacit approval of vigilantism and anti-immigrant activities. These militant groups must be investigated and prosecuted for any illegal activities they may be engaged in.

Vigliantism along our southwestern border is in large part the result of outdated U.S. immigration policies. The disorderly flow of migrants through Arizona that has raised citizen fears, and which puts migrants’ own lives in danger, occurs because we currently have inadequate legal avenues for workers wishing to enter the U.S. Ultimately, the only way to reduce the pressures on Arizona, and eliminate the excuse for vigilante groups’ activity, is comprehensive immigration reform allowing workers to enter the country legally and safely.