Citizen patrol spreads fear, resolve
Migrants press on despite observers at Arizona border
By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | April 5, 2005
AGUA PRIETA, Mexico -- As self-appointed ''Minutemen" set up around-the-clock observation posts in Arizona, the flow of desperate, undocumented immigrants from Mexico into the United States has continued from way stations such as this crowded border city.
At least 19 illegal migrants have been arrested in Arizona after citizen observers reported them to the authorities. In this jumping-off point for clandestine border crossings, would-be immigrants gather and wait for the chance to make the dangerous, expensive journey.
One teenager from the Mexican state of Jalisco, wearing a baseball cap embroidered with a marijuana leaf, said he was penniless and afraid as he waited for his ''connection" to guide him across.
''I don't care about the Minutemen. I'm afraid of the coyotes," he said, referring to the smugglers who carry undocumented migrants north. ''I'm going anyway."
The teenager, who stood on a dusty sidewalk about a quarter-mile from the border crossing into Douglas, Ariz., said his family would pay the smugglers once he arrived in the United States. But he acknowledged that such transactions sometimes end badly with theft of the migrants' money and even their death. After a brief interview, during which his eyes were darting about a litter-strewn street corner, the teenager scurried away.
The Minutemen's loud denunciation of US border security, and their criticism of undocumented immigrants, have raised concerns that migrants might encounter violence.
''Maybe these people will kill the illegals," said Agua Prieta police officer Agustina Zapata, referring to the estimated 1,000 protesters who are expected to flock to Arizona to bolster border surveillance. ''This is not right. We have no idea how they will act. There could be a confrontation."
Minuteman Project organizer Jim Gilchrist has pledged that no violence will occur, but Mexicans are not so sure. ''The idea is maybe not so bad," said Hector Acosta, 66, who runs an insurance business near the border. ''But when you see people with guns, you're inviting trouble."
The month-long Minuteman Project officially began yesterday, but many of the volunteers from across the country began taking up position Sunday night in border sites selected by the organizers. Tim Donnelly, one of the volunteers, reported no activity in his station near the crossing at Naco. The civilians, many of them driving campers and SUVs, are being deployed along a 23-mile-wide swath of sparsely populated desert south of Tombstone.
Between Thursday and midnight Sunday, the Border Patrol has received 78 citizen calls to the Douglas and Naco stations, which have resulted in 162 apprehensions, said Jose Garza, an agency spokesman. Normally, Garza said, the entire Tucson sector of eight border stations receives between 300 and 400 calls a month.
Federal authorities are concerned that the Minutemen might inadvertently trip electronic sensors, installed near the border to detect undocumented migrants. So far, project leaders said, 483 volunteers have registered and are in the field.
''It's probably not unexpected when you get 483 people spreading out their wings," said Mike McGarry, the project's spokesman. Arizona has become the crossing point of choice for smugglers. More than half of the 1.1 million undocumented migrants US authorities arrested last year were apprehended in Arizona.
Although the Minutemen decry the flood of illegal immigrants and assail the Bush administration for not beefing up security, Agua Prieta residents such as Acosta said that new walls and more Border Patrol agents will not stop people who are in desperate economic straits in Mexico.
''The number one problem here is survival," Acosta said wearily, referring to a city of 71,000 people where many homes do not have running water or electricity.
The result in Agua Prieta is a dangerous, volatile stew, Acosta said, when hungry transients looking to make connections for a crossing are added to the mix.
The migrants come from all over Mexico, particularly the south, and every country in Central America, Acosta said. The transients, who usually cannot find work in Agua Prieta as they wait for the crossing, stand listless and leery on the street corners. ''They are sitting on the sidewalks, looking everywhere for something," said Jose Francisco Galindo, 59, who manages a burrito and hamburger grill for his brother. ''They don't have anything to eat."
The smuggling trade is immensely profitable for the coyotes, the smugglers who charge an average of $1,600 for the crossing, Galindo said. Most also are drug dealers, he said, who can be easily spotted behind the wheels of Humvees and expensive vehicles in Agua Prieta.
''They're making a lot of money, and they're buying all the good businesses," Galindo said. ''It's a big problem, and it's dangerous."
Zapata said the Agua Prieta authorities are unable to curb illegal immigration into the United States because the migrants generally have not committed a crime before they cross the border. ''The problem is not here on this side," Zapata said. ''The US Border Patrol asks us to put them in jail, but they're legal here."
The Minutemen will not do much to stem the tide of immigration, she predicted. ''They don't care" about the Minutemen, Zapata said. ''This is a big dream for them. It's their American dream."
Angel Garcia, an Agua Prieta resident who works as a dishwasher in Douglas, Ariz., said the crimes against undocumented immigrants are both numerous and heartbreaking.
''They sell their cars, they sell their houses, they sell everything" to go to the United States, said Garcia, 56. ''But sometimes they are killed."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/04/05/citizen_patrol_spreads_fear_resolve/
Migrants press on despite observers at Arizona border
By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | April 5, 2005
AGUA PRIETA, Mexico -- As self-appointed ''Minutemen" set up around-the-clock observation posts in Arizona, the flow of desperate, undocumented immigrants from Mexico into the United States has continued from way stations such as this crowded border city.
At least 19 illegal migrants have been arrested in Arizona after citizen observers reported them to the authorities. In this jumping-off point for clandestine border crossings, would-be immigrants gather and wait for the chance to make the dangerous, expensive journey.
One teenager from the Mexican state of Jalisco, wearing a baseball cap embroidered with a marijuana leaf, said he was penniless and afraid as he waited for his ''connection" to guide him across.
''I don't care about the Minutemen. I'm afraid of the coyotes," he said, referring to the smugglers who carry undocumented migrants north. ''I'm going anyway."
The teenager, who stood on a dusty sidewalk about a quarter-mile from the border crossing into Douglas, Ariz., said his family would pay the smugglers once he arrived in the United States. But he acknowledged that such transactions sometimes end badly with theft of the migrants' money and even their death. After a brief interview, during which his eyes were darting about a litter-strewn street corner, the teenager scurried away.
The Minutemen's loud denunciation of US border security, and their criticism of undocumented immigrants, have raised concerns that migrants might encounter violence.
''Maybe these people will kill the illegals," said Agua Prieta police officer Agustina Zapata, referring to the estimated 1,000 protesters who are expected to flock to Arizona to bolster border surveillance. ''This is not right. We have no idea how they will act. There could be a confrontation."
Minuteman Project organizer Jim Gilchrist has pledged that no violence will occur, but Mexicans are not so sure. ''The idea is maybe not so bad," said Hector Acosta, 66, who runs an insurance business near the border. ''But when you see people with guns, you're inviting trouble."
The month-long Minuteman Project officially began yesterday, but many of the volunteers from across the country began taking up position Sunday night in border sites selected by the organizers. Tim Donnelly, one of the volunteers, reported no activity in his station near the crossing at Naco. The civilians, many of them driving campers and SUVs, are being deployed along a 23-mile-wide swath of sparsely populated desert south of Tombstone.
Between Thursday and midnight Sunday, the Border Patrol has received 78 citizen calls to the Douglas and Naco stations, which have resulted in 162 apprehensions, said Jose Garza, an agency spokesman. Normally, Garza said, the entire Tucson sector of eight border stations receives between 300 and 400 calls a month.
Federal authorities are concerned that the Minutemen might inadvertently trip electronic sensors, installed near the border to detect undocumented migrants. So far, project leaders said, 483 volunteers have registered and are in the field.
''It's probably not unexpected when you get 483 people spreading out their wings," said Mike McGarry, the project's spokesman. Arizona has become the crossing point of choice for smugglers. More than half of the 1.1 million undocumented migrants US authorities arrested last year were apprehended in Arizona.
Although the Minutemen decry the flood of illegal immigrants and assail the Bush administration for not beefing up security, Agua Prieta residents such as Acosta said that new walls and more Border Patrol agents will not stop people who are in desperate economic straits in Mexico.
''The number one problem here is survival," Acosta said wearily, referring to a city of 71,000 people where many homes do not have running water or electricity.
The result in Agua Prieta is a dangerous, volatile stew, Acosta said, when hungry transients looking to make connections for a crossing are added to the mix.
The migrants come from all over Mexico, particularly the south, and every country in Central America, Acosta said. The transients, who usually cannot find work in Agua Prieta as they wait for the crossing, stand listless and leery on the street corners. ''They are sitting on the sidewalks, looking everywhere for something," said Jose Francisco Galindo, 59, who manages a burrito and hamburger grill for his brother. ''They don't have anything to eat."
The smuggling trade is immensely profitable for the coyotes, the smugglers who charge an average of $1,600 for the crossing, Galindo said. Most also are drug dealers, he said, who can be easily spotted behind the wheels of Humvees and expensive vehicles in Agua Prieta.
''They're making a lot of money, and they're buying all the good businesses," Galindo said. ''It's a big problem, and it's dangerous."
Zapata said the Agua Prieta authorities are unable to curb illegal immigration into the United States because the migrants generally have not committed a crime before they cross the border. ''The problem is not here on this side," Zapata said. ''The US Border Patrol asks us to put them in jail, but they're legal here."
The Minutemen will not do much to stem the tide of immigration, she predicted. ''They don't care" about the Minutemen, Zapata said. ''This is a big dream for them. It's their American dream."
Angel Garcia, an Agua Prieta resident who works as a dishwasher in Douglas, Ariz., said the crimes against undocumented immigrants are both numerous and heartbreaking.
''They sell their cars, they sell their houses, they sell everything" to go to the United States, said Garcia, 56. ''But sometimes they are killed."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/04/05/citizen_patrol_spreads_fear_resolve/