Story
It's about time!!!
FEATURE-Arizonans fed up with illegal Mexican migration
Updated 10:15 AM ET May 16, 2000
By Adolfo Garza
DOUGLAS, Arizona (Reuters) - Some residents of southern Arizona, fed up with the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico, plan to keep on taking matters into their own hands, saying the U.S. Border Patrol is not doing its job.
Tension has risen along the Arizona-Mexico border in recent weeks as Cochise County ranchers step up a campaign of making citizens' arrests of immigrants who trespass on their land. Mexico accuses them of hunting down Mexicans like dogs.
Over the weekend, a group calling itself the Concerned Citizens of Cochise County and the California-based American Patrol, a citizens' group that also seeks to stop illegal immigration, announced plans for a "Shadow Border Patrol" that would "keep track" of the U.S. Border Patrol's actions.
Roger Barnett, a Cochise rancher who has participated in illegal immigrant roundups, said there were no other options. "It's just out of control," he said in an interview. "The U.S. government is not protecting its citizens."
He said illegal immigrants who cross his ranch leave behind a trail of trash, clothes and blankets, and some defecate on his property. "They're a bunch of hoodlums," he said.
CONCERNS IN GOVERNMENT
But the actions of the Arizona vigilantes are stirring up unease in official circles, where their anti-immigrant message has provoked fears of possible violence and human rights abuses against undocumented aliens.
"The situation is causing concerns at all levels of government," Miguel Escobar, the Mexican consul in the sleepy border town of Douglas, told Reuters. "There is an element of danger and these incidents could lead to acts of violence."
Last Friday, Foreign Minister Rosario Green told reporters in Mexico City that Mexico would raise the issue at meetings with American officials. "The issue of the Mexicans and the Arizona ranchers is seen, without a doubt, as a red alert that could generate a relatively tense situation," she said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Border Patrol announced this week it was deploying an additional 250 immigration officers along Arizona's conflicted border, local media reported.
The complexity of the situation is best illustrated by the strong disagreements among local, state and federal U.S. officials over how to deal with the vigilantes.
Douglas Mayor Ray Borane, calling the ranchers' treatment of illegal immigrants "inhumane," said the federal government must "become involved at a higher level than the Border Patrol. I am very disappointed in the government, they insist on the Border Patrol dealing with it."
UP TO, BUT NOT INCLUDING, DEADLY FORCE
Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever attended the weekend meeting of anti-immigrant advocates and asked them to stay within the law when making citizens' arrests. He said private citizens arresting trespassers on their property can use any means "up to and including the threat of deadly force, but not the use of deadly force."
The U.S. Attorney's Office has been working "very, very hard" to determine whether any acts by the Cochise County Concerned Citizens may constitute a federal civil rights offense, spokeswoman Cathy Colbert said.
Such cases are extremely hard to prosecute because in most cases the only witnesses are the undocumented aliens themselves, who are usually unwilling to testify in court because of their illegal status in the United States.
Barnett and other ranchers are unbending. "I am being threatened by the government of Mexico for protecting my property," he said.
Rather than complain about the actions of the ranchers, Mexico should provide jobs and welfare for its citizens, he added. "Mexico is the biggest abuser of its citizens there is," he said, and the U.S. government should stop "listening to a Third World narco-dictatorship."
Barnett said he would not stop rounding up illegal immigrants. "It's my property and I can do what I want."
~USP
[This message has been edited by USP45 (edited May 16, 2000).]
It's about time!!!
FEATURE-Arizonans fed up with illegal Mexican migration
Updated 10:15 AM ET May 16, 2000
By Adolfo Garza
DOUGLAS, Arizona (Reuters) - Some residents of southern Arizona, fed up with the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico, plan to keep on taking matters into their own hands, saying the U.S. Border Patrol is not doing its job.
Tension has risen along the Arizona-Mexico border in recent weeks as Cochise County ranchers step up a campaign of making citizens' arrests of immigrants who trespass on their land. Mexico accuses them of hunting down Mexicans like dogs.
Over the weekend, a group calling itself the Concerned Citizens of Cochise County and the California-based American Patrol, a citizens' group that also seeks to stop illegal immigration, announced plans for a "Shadow Border Patrol" that would "keep track" of the U.S. Border Patrol's actions.
Roger Barnett, a Cochise rancher who has participated in illegal immigrant roundups, said there were no other options. "It's just out of control," he said in an interview. "The U.S. government is not protecting its citizens."
He said illegal immigrants who cross his ranch leave behind a trail of trash, clothes and blankets, and some defecate on his property. "They're a bunch of hoodlums," he said.
CONCERNS IN GOVERNMENT
But the actions of the Arizona vigilantes are stirring up unease in official circles, where their anti-immigrant message has provoked fears of possible violence and human rights abuses against undocumented aliens.
"The situation is causing concerns at all levels of government," Miguel Escobar, the Mexican consul in the sleepy border town of Douglas, told Reuters. "There is an element of danger and these incidents could lead to acts of violence."
Last Friday, Foreign Minister Rosario Green told reporters in Mexico City that Mexico would raise the issue at meetings with American officials. "The issue of the Mexicans and the Arizona ranchers is seen, without a doubt, as a red alert that could generate a relatively tense situation," she said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Border Patrol announced this week it was deploying an additional 250 immigration officers along Arizona's conflicted border, local media reported.
The complexity of the situation is best illustrated by the strong disagreements among local, state and federal U.S. officials over how to deal with the vigilantes.
Douglas Mayor Ray Borane, calling the ranchers' treatment of illegal immigrants "inhumane," said the federal government must "become involved at a higher level than the Border Patrol. I am very disappointed in the government, they insist on the Border Patrol dealing with it."
UP TO, BUT NOT INCLUDING, DEADLY FORCE
Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever attended the weekend meeting of anti-immigrant advocates and asked them to stay within the law when making citizens' arrests. He said private citizens arresting trespassers on their property can use any means "up to and including the threat of deadly force, but not the use of deadly force."
The U.S. Attorney's Office has been working "very, very hard" to determine whether any acts by the Cochise County Concerned Citizens may constitute a federal civil rights offense, spokeswoman Cathy Colbert said.
Such cases are extremely hard to prosecute because in most cases the only witnesses are the undocumented aliens themselves, who are usually unwilling to testify in court because of their illegal status in the United States.
Barnett and other ranchers are unbending. "I am being threatened by the government of Mexico for protecting my property," he said.
Rather than complain about the actions of the ranchers, Mexico should provide jobs and welfare for its citizens, he added. "Mexico is the biggest abuser of its citizens there is," he said, and the U.S. government should stop "listening to a Third World narco-dictatorship."
Barnett said he would not stop rounding up illegal immigrants. "It's my property and I can do what I want."
~USP
[This message has been edited by USP45 (edited May 16, 2000).]
