Border Explorer

Precious Knowledge: Movie to move America

2012-05-16T14:39:00.001-05:00

The film Precious Knowledge airs on PBS's Independent Lens on May 17. I've seen the movie, and it is a knock-out. Don't miss this show on Thursday at 10 pm (check local listings). Set your DVR if you can't watch it live. Here's why:

The film documents the contentious battle in Tuscon, Arizona over their public high school's highly successful Mexican American Studies Program. Students and teachers fought to rescue this innovative curriculum from state officials who legislated the deletion of ethnic studies programs and the local school board who colluded with the decision.

Filmmakers Ari Luis Palos and Eren Isabel McGinniss spent a complete year in the classroom, documenting the transformation of Latino students who became engaged learners, active citizens and self-actualized persons as they participated in classes they found to be relevant.

Photo credits: PBS

Yes, Precious Knowledge explains the program's success: statistics about improved drop-out rates and boosted numbers of students who subsequently choose to pursue a college education. But the beauty of the film is in the stories of individual students who welcome us into their homes and lives to show us the personal impact of the program. This is where film excels!

Equally important, the film shows us the bigoted political process that led to the ultimate demise of the MAS (Mexican American Studies) program. You may draw your own conclusions from the testimony of the decision-makers who pulled the plug...and openly told the film-makers why they did.

I was fortunate to preview the film this spring at a private showing in El Paso, Tuscon's border neighbor. I choose the word "fortunate" pointedly because the emotional impact of the movie literally disturbed my sleep for days afterward. Always one to immerse myself in a film, in the wake of the Precious Knowledge I felt angry and beaten down by ignorance and blind power. I felt defeated, and it hurt.

To cope with my emotional aftermath, I recalled the screening room on that sunny April afternoon. An empty chair separated me from a woman in my row who didn't know me. As giant figures of white men spewing ignorant, prejudiced statements towered over us on the screen above, I saw her literally bend forward from the waist, lean into her lap and cradle her face in her hands. I felt her pain. I shared it in that moment. It somehow comforted me to know that I was not alone. She understood.

The memory of her reaction still comforts me. It was a full-bodied lament...a grieving.

Those who are on the side of Arizona lawmakers will not likely benefit from this movie because no movie will ever change their racist mindsets. But there are many in the United States who will be moved by this production. They have not yet heard about this recent attack in the ongoing war against humanity that we name "racism."

Precious Knowledge is a movie powerful enough to move many in America. Don't miss the opportunity to be moved.

Here's the movie trailer:

After viewing Precious Knowledge, you may wish to sign this petition for TUSD to reinstate the MAS program and or join the Precious Knowledge Facebook page.

Massachusetts immigrant advocates act to denounce S-Comm implementation

2012-05-14T10:19:00.001-05:00

Boston, MA-The announcement that the Department of Homeland Security would start the Secure Communities program in all of Massachusetts on May 15 has prompted immigrant advocates to call for action in response

.
The response is part of a campaign called "Just Communities" against the implementation of S-Comm in Massachusetts. The campaign, led by the agency Centro Presente, has been operating in Massachusetts for the past two years.

“Starting on May 15 we are going to denounce every case of the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have no criminal records and denounce the violation of the basic human rights of undocumented immigrants in our state,” said Patricia Montes, Centro Presente’s Executive Director.

Immigration reform rally (file photo)

The Secure Communities Program, known as S-Comm, is one component the U.S. Government’s current “Enforcement Only” response to immigration in this country. The agency is certain that the US government does not have the political will to transform the US immigration system, relying instead on a problematic enforcement only approach.

“The US government does not have the political will to address the real causes that force people to come to the US without the proper documentation in the first place. People are coming as a result of the implementation of US economic foreign policies that are increasing poverty in our countries of origin, policies that are just benefiting multinational corporations.

"In the U.S. corporations like the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) are part of a five billion dollar a year industry that benefits from the implementation of anti-migrant legislation like SB-1070 in Arizona that they helped to write,” concluded Montes.

U.S. Catholic priest honored for lifetime of solidarity

2012-05-09T19:46:00.000-05:00

Fr. Peter Hinde, O.Carm, co-founder with Sr. Betty Campbell, RSM, of Tabor House in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and a co-founder of CRISPAZ, Cristianos/as por la Paz en El Salvador, will receive an honorary Degree of Doctor of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, IN on May 12, 2012. The award was announced on Interconnect, the Latin American Solidarity Committee's quarterly newsletter.
Quoting Marty Schladen of the El Paso Times:

Hinde, known now as Father Peter, has gone from World War II fighter pilot to a member of Veterans for Peace who comes to El Paso every Friday to protest U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. He lives among and ministers to some of Juarez's poorest residents. And he argues that U.S. policies help keep them poor.
After experiencing the civil-rights movement while living in Washington, D.C., and the beginnings of the movement known as liberation theology while living in Peru, Hinde plans to end his days in Juarez trying to demonstrate what he sees as the effects of trade policy on Mexican workers.

(l-r) Fr. Peter Hinde, Pat Delgado and
Sister Betty Campbell address a group of university
students visiting the U.S.-Mexico border.

Cathy Cornell, President of the Board of CRISPAZ commented:

"Peter's accompaniment of the people of the Americas - his walking and working with people in the South and then sharing their stories with people in the North in a form of reverse mission - embodies the mission of CRISPAZ. He provides us with an example of how to be a responsible citizen of the US."

Father Peter and Sister Betty are the two people most responsible for my own annual pilgrimages to the U.S.-Mexico border. Throughout the bloodiest years of the Juarez drug war, they have never wavered in their commitment to live solidarity with the common people of the city. As friends of theirs, I received an insight into the reality of terror that the people of Juarez have lived, as they shared the real-life stories from the barrio.

Father Peter is a really smart man who has not neglected rigorous systemic analysis even though he cast his lot with the poor. He fully deserves a doctorate. Even more, his life--as well as the life of Sister Betty who has been his team player and partner in ministry--deserve greater recognition and fame, although neither of them would seek acknowledgement in a self-seeking motivation--quite the opposite! But lives like theirs rightfully inspire the masses, causing us to reflect, take stock, and--perhaps--to change.

The Hispanic Institute Calls on Romney to Reign in Anti-Immigrant Extremists

2012-05-03T21:18:00.000-05:00

Mitt Romney

WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, The Hispanic Institute called on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to denounce a House bill that would effectively militarize America's borders.

The National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act (H.R. 1505), authored by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), would give the Department of Homeland Security expanded powers to obtain operational control of federal lands within a 100-mile swath of the northern and southern U.S. borders. Bishop claims the bill is necessary to help protect the country's borders.

The agencies tasked with border security disagree. The United States Border Patrol has been slow to embrace the bill and has asserted that it has the border security issue under control.

A recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center buttresses the Border Patrol's claims. The report concludes that immigration from Mexico slowed to "a standstill" between 2005 and 2010.

H.R. 1505 proposes a solution to a problem that simply does not exist. By stretching Homeland Security's increased powers to states like Maine and Minnesota, it demonstrates that its real intent is not to bolster national security -- but instead to undermine federal regulations over a host of lands and industries.

This breathtaking cynicism is obvious to Hispanics, who are angry at being portrayed as bogey-men to advance the agenda of Rep. Bishop and the Tea Party -- an agenda that professes to reduce federal regulation.

Immigration is an important issue that this country must address and resolve. But using immigrants as legislative props, in such a clumsy and reckless fashion, erodes faith in good government.

Now that Governor Romney is the presumptive Republican nominee and the de facto GOP leader, he must move to silence the extremists within his party, lest they continue the damage done during the primary. The Hispanic Institute calls on the Romney Campaign and the Republican Party to convince Republican members of Congress that H.R. 1505 is a dishonest and corrosive bill. Doing so would represent an easy first step toward convincing Hispanics that the GOP values their voices and votes -- and intends to take their issues seriously.

Source: The Hispanic Institute

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons--Flickr: Mitt Romney caucus eve in Clive 022, IowaPolitics.com

LINK: Sign The Wilderness Society's petition asking Congress to stop H.R. 1505.

Will Our Ungodly Silence Cease? by Denny O'Mara

2012-04-28T18:39:00.001-05:00

This poem was written by my El Paso neighbor (and Columban priest) who was arrested and jailed multiple times in Chile while protesting Pinochet's rule of death and terror. His reflection here was inspired by this week's Voice of the Voiceless event in El Paso sponsored by Annunciation House.

I thank him for allowing me to share his poem with you here.

When will we open up our mouths,
unlock our lips which we've kept closed?

God needs to free us to defend
those suffering, those crucified.
Each sees us hurry past their cross.
We fear to look; we fear to speak
lest others criticize, attack
us for defending victims' rights,
the rights of those who have no voice.

Will our ungodly silence cease?
Will we speak out? They're crucified
on battle fields and city streets;
in schools, homes, abortion rooms;
in camps with other refugees;
in places where those trafficked work:
in sweat-shops or as prostitutes.
There are immigrants who fear that they
will be sent back to where they're from,
to be hungry, homeless, unemployed,
be threatened with torture or death.

We would not ever want to be
on crosses where they have been nailed.
We'd want that others free us or
speak out, help us to be set free,
be our voice when we could not speak.

Today will my voice be set free?
Will I help free those crucified?
I need not be alone in this.
Today I vow to join my voice
with others of like mind and heart.

Today set free my voice, O God.
Today set free my voice.

I pray for voiceless, all oppressed.
They ask that we help them restore
"peace, justice, love, their dignity."
What we will do or fail to do
will speak more loudly than our words.
Make clear, God, what we need to do;
move us to do what we can do.
~Denny O'Mara, April 2012

Arizona's SB 1070: A mockery of the U.S. Constitution and international law, says human rights leader

2012-04-24T21:31:00.003-05:00

On the eve of the U.S. Supreme Court hearing the challenge to Arizona law SB 1070, Justin Mazzola, lead researcher of the newly released Amnesty International report, In Hostile Terrain: Human rights violations in immigration enforcement in the US southwest, said:

"Amnesty International believes that if the Supreme Court hands down a decision in favor of SB 1070, this places immigrant, Latino and Indigenous communities in Arizona at increased risk of racial profiling and discriminatory treatment. The federal government cannot even enforce this country's immigration laws with 100 percent accuracy as individuals with claims for U.S. citizenship are detained for as long as a year and some American citizens have even been deported. Giving states this authority would make a mockery of both the U.S. Constitution and the United States' obligations under international law.

If SB 1070 is ruled to be constitutional, similar laws will continue to be enacted in states all across the United States, exposing communities in every state to discriminatory treatment or other human rights violations."

Image by Wikiwopbop at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

Massive slowdown in California population; Future workforce to rely on children of immigrants, says new report

2012-04-24T13:59:00.000-05:00

A massive slowdown in California’s population growth means the state likely won’t reach 50 million residents until the year 2046, a new USC analysis released Tuesday shows.

That’s a far slower rate of growth than the latest official projection released in 2007 by the state Department of Finance that shows the state reaching 50 million residents 14 years earlier, in the year 2032.

The declining rate of population growth is due in large part to plateauing immigration rates. The total percentage of Californians who are foreign born is expected to stay at 27 percent of the total population through 2030, a sharp contrast to the upward rise in immigration in the 1980s and 1990s.

The USC report contains California’s first population projection that includes results from the 2010 census. Its analysis also estimates that growth among California’s seniors, those 65 and older, will quadruple within the next 20 years, driven by the aging of the large “baby boomer” generation.

At the same time, growth among the main working age population ages 25 to 64 is expected to slow, and virtually all the projected growth, or 98 percent, is comprised of native-born children of immigrants, or second generation immigrants.

“In less than 20 years the Baby Boom generation will all be senior citizens, and these projections show their replacements in the workforce will be the children of immigrants." ~John Pitkin, a senior research associate in the Population Dynamics Research Group and lead author of the report

The population slowdown may bring reprieve to a fiscally strapped state under pressure to keep up with infrastructure needs, said report co-author Dowell Myers.

“These projections suggest there is more time to plan a much better future for California,” commented Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography with the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Among the report’s other findings:

• California’s immigrant population is increasingly long-settled, with those who entered the United States 20 years earlier or more projected to rise to 62.2 percent of all foreign-born residents in 2030, compared to 45.7 percent in 2010.

• The ratio of seniors ages 65 and older to those of prime working age, 25 to 64, will soar to 36 seniors per 100 working age in 2030, compared to 21.6 per 100 in 2010.

• The growth in the population of children will virtually halt in the coming 20 years, with the share of the population made up by children projected to decline from 24.9 percent in 2010 to 20.7 percent in 2030.

• Native Californians form a rapidly growing majority of the state’s population. In 2010, over 90 percent of children under 10 were native Californians but major increases are expected for adults. In 2030, 57.2 percent of adults ages 35 to 44 will have been born in California, up from 38.5 percent in 2010.

Source: USC News

Immigration activists across nation rally against Arizona's anti-immigrant law under Supreme Court's review

2012-04-23T17:42:00.003-05:00

On April 25, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments for and against Arizona’s anti-immigrant law. Pro-immigrant groups across the nation call the measure a thinly veiled attempt to isolate immigrants and people of color and to deny them basic rights.

The Supreme Court will decide whether states have the right to promote racism, hatred, and police harassment toward immigrants and people of color through laws like Arizona's.

Immigration rights groups who are members of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement will hold ‘echo actions’ nationwide on why the Supreme Court must declare Arizona’s law unconstitutional.

A list of events that will occur nationwide is being compiled by Reform Immigration For America. It is reprinted here for your convenience.

ARIZONA

Youth Rally Against SB 1070 and Vigil
Monday, April 23rd, beginning at 3:30pm
March to the AZ State Capitol, 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix
RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/210130982433411/

Community Town Hall on SB 1070
Tuesday, April 24th, 6-7:30pm
Carl Hayden High School, 3333 W. Roosevelt Street, Phoenix
Contact Addy Bareiss – addy @ acluaz.org

March for Justice: United Against SB 1070
Wednesday, April 25th, 3-7pm
Civic Space Park, 424 North Central
Downtown Phoenix
RSVP on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/April25UnitedAgainstSB1070

March for Justice: United Against SB 1070
Wednesday, April 25th, 4-6pm
Tucson State Building 400 W. Congress, Tuscon
Organized by Coalicion de Derechos Humanos

CALIFORNIA

Denounce SB 1070 Rally
Tuesday, April 24th at 9:30am
Federal Courthouse, 3300 N. Los Angeles Street, Downtown LA
RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/352816711432593/

CONNECTICUT

Vigil Pro-Immigration Reform
Tuesday, April 24th, 7-9pm
Government Center, 888 Washington Blvd, Stamford
Organized by CT Students for a DREAM

Press Conference
Wednesday, April 25th at 1pm
Legislative Office Building, Room 1-D, 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford
Organized by National Day Laborer Organizing Network

FLORIDA
Press Conference
Wednesday April 25th at 11am
201 N. Krome Avenue, 2nd Floor, Homestead
Organized by WeCount!

HAWAI’I

Vigil for Justice
Tuesday, April 24th, 11am-1pm
Prince Kuhio Federal Building, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu
Organized by FACE Hawai’i

IDAHO

Press Conference on SB 1070
Wednesday, April 25th at 10:30am
Corner of Bannock and 8th Street, Downtown Boise
Organized by Idaho CAN

KANSAS

Kansans Stand in Solidarity
Wednesday, April 25th at 4:30pm
Wells Fargo building, 300 S Main Street, Wichita
RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/299734133436483/

MASSACHUSETTS
Press Conference and Rally
Wednesday April 25th at 10am
Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon St, Boston
Organized by Centro Presente and Just Communities Campaign

TENNESSEE

Knoxville United Against Racism
Wednesday, April 25th at 7:30pm
Krutch Park, 504 Market St SW, Downtown Knoxville
Organized by Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition

TEXAS

Vigil for Family Unity
Tuesday, April 24th at 7pm
City Hall, 1500 Marilla Street, Dallas
Organized by Pueblo Sin Fronteras

OREGON

SB 1070 Forum at Portland State University
Tuesday, April 24th at 6pm
Portland State University
Organized by Oregon DREAMers

WASHINGTON DC

Jewish Community Event at the Supreme Court
Tuesday, April 24th, 6-10pm
US Supreme Court, 1 First Street, NE Washington, DC
RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/371135819591461/

Rally at the US Supreme Court
Wednesday, April 25th beginning at 11am
US Supreme Court, 1 First Street, NE Washington, DC
RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/436706686356271/

WISCONSIN

Press Conference
Wednesday April 25th at 11am
Voces de la Frontera office, 1027 S. 5th Street, Milwaukee
Organized by Voces de la Frontera

Remembering 10,000 homicides in Juarez

2012-04-20T19:33:00.000-05:00

Annunciation House bears the names of 10,000 Juarez deaths

In recent years over ten thousand people have been murdered in El Paso's sister city, Juarez, Mexico unter the auspices of a "drug war." Across the nation of Mexico the numbers of homicides soar to over 50,000.

As one component of its annual Voice of the Voiceless event, this year Annunciation House, 1003 E. San Antonio Avenue, will serve as a screen onto which 10,000 names will be projected--the names of the dead.

Annunciation House hosts the first of the banners to cover the building. Reading: Voice of the Voiceless. No olvidemos 10,000. Giving name, face and voice to those killed in Juarez.

Numbers betray us. They communicate fact, but often omit emotion. They cannot convey the impact that comes from actually seeing the enormity of this human rights disaster.

Listing 10,000 names requires more than a ream of paper.

Every evening, Sunday, April 22 through Friday, April 27 from 8:00PM TO 12:00AM the projection of names of the deceased and accompanying images will cover the Annunciation House building.

The public is invited to bring flowers, momentos, and/or other symbols to place upon the altar in memory of the 10,000 who have been killed in Ciudad Juarez and the more than 50,000 who have died throughout Mexico.

How can we call it a "drug war" when the victims are children, youth, mothers and innocent civilians?

Screen on rear of building for images bears a quote from Mexican poet/activist Javier Sicilia in two languages.

Tom Russell's El Paso concert: An inside look courtesy of Ian Atkins

2012-04-19T21:55:00.000-05:00

This is big: Tom Russell--arguably America's premiere singer-songwriter--will play his first concert in several years here in El Paso, his adopted hometown, on April 21. Advance word from Tom Russell's media assures fans that this concert:

will feature ALL the El Paso/Juarez songs including: "When Sinatra Played Juarez," "Goodnight Juarez," "El Paso," "Tom Thumb’s Blues" and others….this will be a border adventure with special guests: Ian Atkins and Thad Beckman.

Ian Atkins: on location at Tom's Folk Cafe in El Paso

Ian Atkins, El Pasoan restaurateur, owns Tom's Folk Café in the Kern Place neighborhood. So how is he on the concert bill with Tom Russell? What will he be doing?

To find out, I stopped in for lunch at Tom's Folk Café and found Ian on his iPad, doing payroll. Nevertheless, he obliged me an impromptu interview--as soon as he finished.

Turns out that the multi-talented Atkins is not only a excellent restaurateur but is also himself a musician and composer.

"There will be an intermission in the concert between Tom's sets when I'll play my original songs," he modestly stated.

His style? It's similar to Russell's own, he told me: "blue collar, folk."

Ticket sales are "pretty good" for Saturday's 7 pm concert, April 21, he says. With 300 seats sold before Tuesday, Atkins thought it was "big for El Paso." Tickets to the event at the El Paso Scottish Rite are available online (with "will call" pick up) or at the door.

Russell's music highlights the US-Mexico border. Cuts from his latest album Mesabi don't shy away from difficult themes, tackling, for instance, the extreme violence in Juarez, Mexico of recent years in "Goodnight, Juarez," one of the upcoming concert's promised offerings.

Atkins originally met Russell through a mutual friend. But he had already been a fan of Russell's music.

An early pioneer of mobile food vending in El Paso, when Atkins opened his stationary restaurant last summer, he took the theme for Tom's Folk Café at 204 Boston (near UTEP) from Tom Russell himself. The restaurant is full of Russell's original artwork and offers Russell's CDs for sale.

Young Juarez artists engage a violent city at Conectarte conference

2012-04-15T15:48:00.002-05:00

The second annual Conectarte conference in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico will gather more than 100 young artists from across the city on April 20. These youthful artists consciously use art to understand and to change their world. This year's theme, Art in Dialog with the City, considers how artists use the city: as subject, backdrop, context and catalyst. The city itself appears in mediums as diverse as rap, murals, graphic design, film, dance, among others.

In recent years Juárez has become one of the most violent cities in the world, with a 2010 murder rate of 271.89 per 100 thousand inhabitants. More than 10,000 people have been murdered there since 2008. The violence and resulting insecurity have pushed thousands more to abandon the city, close businesses, and retreat from the city streets.

INBasion project mural in Mexico City by Juarez artist

This is the setting in which the young artists and activists involved in Concetarte are using art to change their world. For the second year in a row, the Conectarte conference creates a space in which young artists can present their artwork, engage in critical conversations, strengthen existing networks, form new alliances, define collective challenges and construct collective dreams.

A series of street murals in Ciudad Juarez

Conectarte 2012 Juárez: Arte en Diálogo con la Ciudad seeks additional funding to augment the professional guidance and organizational support of the Instituto de Arte, Diseño y Arquitectura de la Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juárez, the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso and Colegio de la Frontera Norte. Additional economic support provided by Instituto Chihuahuense de la Cultura.

Sponsorship of this art/peace event is available to the general public through Kickstarter. Supporters at various levels will receive rewards, generous gifts from the event participants.

The various art collectives since last year's successful Conectarte conference continued to make art, engage with their communities, organize and promote cultural events for people of all ages and to build informal networks between local and national artists. This second conference allows them to gather together again and evaluate the year, to build on relationships and proposals that were initiated in Conectarte 2011, and to plan a series of educational activities and critical conversations that will sustain their work in the year ahead.

Conectarte 2012: Arte en Diálogo con la Ciudad from kerry conectarte on Vimeo.

Week of activities highlight Annunciation House 2012 Voice of the Voiceless award in El Paso

2012-04-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

(El Paso, TX) Annunciation House announced events surrounding the 2012 Voice of the Voiceless event that will recognize Mexican poet and activist for peace Javier Sicilia. The presentation of the award will take place at a dinner on April 28.

A week of activities in commemoration will include several special events to celebrate the theme of this year's Voice of the Voiceless: "The Right to be Human." Highlights of the activities follow:

1) A Forum on Immigration takes place on Friday, April 27, from 6 pm until 9 pm, and Saturday, April 28 8am to 1pm at St. Patrick Cathedral Multipurpose Center, 1111 N. Stanton St. The public is invited. There is no cost to attend; seating is limited.

2) Annunciation House, 1003 E. San Antonio Avenue, will be the center of a VIGIL, PROJECTION & MEMORIAL ALTAR.

Sunday, April 22nd, 7:45PM: Press conference, projection on the building of 10,000 names of victims of recent past years of intense violence in Mexico, and vigil.
Every evening, Sunday, April 22nd through Friday, April 27th 8:00PM TO 12:00AM: Vigil initiates the projection of names and images to cover the Annunciation House building
Continuously, Sunday, April 22nd through Friday, April 27, Day and Night: Memorial Altar

The public is invited to bring flowers, momentos, and/or other symbols to place upon the altar in memory of the 10,000 who have been killed in Ciudad Juarez and the more than 50,000 who have died throughout Mexico.

The following announcement details of the dinner honoring Sicilia:

3 Rights Groups will blast Border Patrol, Testify tomorrow before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

2012-03-26T19:18:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Several important human rights groups have been granted a hearing by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) about human rights violations against migrants detained and repatriated at the U.S.-Mexico border. Three of these groups will present testimony tomorrow before the IACHR. Established by the United States and all countries in the Western hemisphere in 1959, the IACHR is authorized to examine allegations of human rights violations by any member country. The hearing will take place at 9:00 a.m. in the offices of the IACHR at 1889 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C. on Tuesday March 27th. The U.S. government will send representatives to respond to the allegations.

The rights groups involved in the denunciation are: No More Deaths, the ACLU of New Mexico - Regional Center for Border Rights, the Southern Border Communities Coalition, the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, the Women’s Refugee Commission, Rights Working Group and the National Immigration Forum.

Cover image from report detaining U.S. Border Patrol abuse

A live webcast of the session is expected to be available at this site.

The hearing follows six years of interviews and documentation work by No More Deaths, a humanitarian and advocacy organization based on the Arizona-Mexico border. This work has included nearly 15,000 interviews with recent deportees who had experienced abusive conditions while in custody. No More Deaths’ most recent report, A Culture of Cruelty: Abuse and Impunity in Short-Term U.S. Border Patrol Custody, published in September 2011, included the following findings, consistent with those of other civil society organizations working in the region:

• 11,384 reports of inadequate access to food;
• Children were more likely to be denied water than adults;
• 374 cases of individuals being repatriated without needed emergency medical care or
medication;
• Coercion into signing legal documents;
• Practices that put vulnerable migrants in harm’s way: dividing families and repatriating vulnerable populations, including children or pregnant women, in the middle of the night;
• Unsanitary and inhumane processing center conditions;
• Reports of verbal, physical and psychological abuse.

In addition to these cases of abuse and mistreatment, the report documents serious structural shortcomings in U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) internal oversight mechanisms, resulting in a widespread culture of impunity in which abusive behavior goes unpunished and uncorrected. Petitioners have identified violations of repatriation agreements between the U.S. and Mexico that put vulnerable migrants at risk.

“Not only is the U.S. government failing to adequately screen for asylum seekers and trafficked children, it is failing to meaningfully engage with civil society to work on addressing these violations of U.S. and international law,” said Jennifer Podkul, program officer, Women’s Refugee Commission.

The U.S. Border Patrol has refused to release complete versions of existing detention policies or to allow civil society organizations access to the facilities to monitor conditions. Efforts to use existing oversight mechanisms have been similarly unproductive, in part due to the fact that all are internal to DHS.

“Current complaint processes are difficult to navigate and lack transparency, providing little to no information regarding allegations of abuse,” said Danielle Alvarado of No More Deaths and co-author of A Culture of Cruelty. “This reflects DHS’ limited ability to meaningfully address systemic, abusive Border Patrol practices.”

Some of the dangerous and abusive U.S. Border Patrol practices documented by these groups violate existing repatriation agreements between the governments of the United States and Mexico; other practices fail to comply with asylum and trafficking screening requirements set forth in domestic and international law, including the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization of 2008, the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, and the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Stated Alvarado, “The Border Patrol blatantly disregards its own policies regarding the treatment of those in their custody, and existing oversight mechanisms have proven unable to prevent abuse. It is clear that the Department of Homeland Security cannot be trusted to police itself. We need independent oversight with the participation of civil society human rights observers if we want to actually stop, and not just cover up, the truly outrageous violations we hear about on a daily basis from people who have been deported to Mexico."

Source: Press release, 3/26/2012

Sending jobs and labor rights abroad: Apple, Michael Daisey and Juarez, Mexico

2012-03-25T19:46:00.001-05:00

In the context of "This American Life"'s abject retraction last week of their confidence of the validity of the facts underpinning their Michael Daisey show, I post an infographic provided Onlinembaprograms.org along with a couple personal thoughts.

The infographic pertains to Apple's carelessness regarding Apple Foxconn in China, the topic of Michael Daisey's show. Does this relate to the U.S.-Mexico border? Certainly. Juarez, Mexico's running murder total of 10,000+ victims is not unrelated to the fact that the U.S. outsourced jobs here heavily, particularly with the onset of NAFTA. Maquiladora (international) plant positions drew thousands of the newly unemployed farmers that NAFTA conveniently created. As author Charles Bowden termed it, Juarez, Mexico became a laboratory of our future. When China could do the jobs cheaper, Juarez bid "adios" to positions that flew across the Pacific from Mexico to Asia.

When we export jobs, we need to export corresponding labor rights to support those jobs.

Created by: OnlineMBAPrograms.org

Librotraficante Caravan received rousing welcome in El Paso, Texas

2012-03-18T10:54:00.001-05:00

As the Librotraficante Caravan passed through El Paso, TX en route to Tucson, AZ last week, they were met by hundreds of enthusiastic supporters at a March 14 evening event. A Book Bash welcomed the caravan and celebrated Latino voices, the event sponsored by BorderSenses, a literary nonprofit organization, in collaboration with Cinco Puntos Press, Mercado Mayapán, and local writers and activists.

The event featured writers and activists from the Caravan who came from various parts of the country, as well as several prominent local artists. These notable locals included Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Minerva Laveaga, Donna Snyder, Richard Yañez, Carolina Monsivais & Jeannette Monsivais , Selfa Chew, Roberto Santos, María Maloney and Griselda Muñoz.

The Librotraficante Caravan is a movement that started in Houston, TX and that is responding to the book ban in Tucson United School District after the disintegration of the Mexican American ethnic studies program. The objective of the caravan will be to take books that are currently prohibited from being taught in Tucson schools into Tucson. Caravanistas hope to bring awareness to Arizona's unconstitutional law that prohibits Mexican American ethnic studies in schools. Headed by Tony Diaz, the caravan is set to pass through San Antonio, El Paso, TX, Mesilla, Albuquerque, NM, finally ending in Tucson, AZ.

Diaz and fellow caravanistas salute performing artists.

“The caravan is intended to raise awareness of the prohibition of the Mexican American Studies Program and the removal of books from classrooms, to promote banned authors and their contributions to American Literature and celebrate diversity. Children of the American Dream must unite to preserve the civil rights of all Americans and create a network of resources for art, literature and activism.”
- Tony Diaz (founder of Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers having their say)

Danza Azteca lead event's opening ritual.

Danza Azteca opened the evening with indigenous dance ritual. Local representatives and officials addressed the assembly, including El Paso City Council member Suzie Byrd and Texas state representative Marisa Marquez.

Themes of self-pride, border issues, freedom of expression, ethnic pride and ethnic oppression cycled throughout the evening. The excitement of the crowd was palpable; an undercurrent of conversation persisted throughout the evening as activists connected in an electric atmosphere.

The event showcased local artists--with many presenting original works--as well as voices from around the nation. Caravan participant and former El Pasoan Zelene Pineda read a poem she penned while living in Sunset Heights, her response to the Juarez drug war violence she witnessed. Pineda now works for the New York Immigrant Coalition.

How St. Patrick Cathedral in El Paso, TX received its name

2012-03-17T20:35:00.002-05:00

From my first week in El Paso, something about the name of its Catholic Cathedral--St. Patrick--seemed awry to me. In the land of "San Elizario" and "San Lorenzo" and the many Catholic names coming to us from the Spanish roots, it felt odd to me that our Cathedral was named for the Irish.

After some time here, I learned about the St. Patrick's Battalion, a tremendous story that was in no history book I saw in any school I attended. No one tells the story better than David Rovics in his song:

Perhaps, I speculated, St. Patrick's was named for this brave band of immigrants who lived by their consciences and not by peer pressure. But the real answer is, actually, a bit less inspiring, at least at first glance.

St. Patrick Cathedral and Sunset Heights at dusk

The diocese of El Paso, created in 1914 by Pope (and now saint) Pius X, utilized the ingenious fundraising concept of a "naming opportunity" to generate start-up funding. According to the diocesan website:

"...in raising funds for the cathedral's construction, the diocese offered to allow the first group to raise $10,000 for the project to name the new cathedral.
A group of Irish Catholic women, according to the story, met the challenge and chose the name of St. Patrick. El Paso at the time was a major center of the mining industry in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico, and, it is said, many of the miners were Irish." [my emphasis]

Now we know that typically miners are the poorest of the poor. Thus, it's not inappropriate to consider our Cathedral St. Patrick here in El Paso as honoring with its name our United States immigrants. They are the people who do the most distasteful work--as did the Irish miners. They are the ones who carry with them into this nation the values we so desperately need--as did the San Patricios, the members of Saint Patrick's Battalion.

So, the cathedral's name, after all, befits El Paso, even though it is a city in which descendants of Northern Europeans comprise less than 15% of the citizens [Wikipedia]. It befits El Paso because this is a city that, by and large, welcomes immigrants. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

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David Rovics provides free downloads of all his music, including "The Saint Patricks Battalion" at his site on Soundclick. Lyrics are there, too. Give yourself this song for St. Patrick's Day (you might leave David a tip, too).

Awakening the Dreamer: Vision of sustainability in El Paso, TX on March 18

2012-03-12T20:25:00.000-05:00

[El Paso, TX] A program to explore a new global vision, based on sustainability, spiritual fulfillment and social justice, entitled “Awakening the Dreamer” will take place March 18, from 2:30 P.M to 5:00 P.M. at All Saints Catholic Church Parish Hall, 1415 N. Dakota. Sister Kathleen Erickson, RSM will facilitate the session. There is no fee. The public is invited to attend this program which is sponsored locally by Border Women.

Each of us wants to live a fulfilling life and to have a positive impact on our families and communities. Since 2005, the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium has helped tens of thousands of people do just that.

Thought-provoking, challenging, and deeply moving, the symposium is a dynamic multimedia presentation from some of the most respected social and scientific experts or our time, interwoven with wisdom and inspiration from our indigenous partners.

With informative videos and guided personal reflection exercises, the symposium experience reaches deeply into both the heart and mind.~text from Awakening the Dreamer website

An environmentally sustainable, just world is achievable. View the trailer. Join the movement.

International observers threatened with arrest & death by Israeli Army's Golani Brigade in Hebron

2012-03-09T11:31:00.001-06:00

Photo taken from CPT video footage (bottom of post).

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) claimed in a press release yesterday that it has been threatened with arrest and death by the Israeli armies Golani Brigade since publication of their report, Under Attack: Golani Brigade's war on the Palestinian population of Al-Khalil (Hebron). The report documents the recent escalation of human rights abuse in Al Khalil. These threats are an attempt to prevent CPT and other international organizations from continuing to document ongoing human rights abuses, including violence and harassment, committed by soldiers against the civilian population of Al Khalil.

Christian Peacemaker Teams sent delegations to the U.S.-Mexico border in past years. Some delegation members have remained as ongoing activists involved in a variety of border issues and challenges.

According to International law and Israeli law, international observers have the right to document the actions of soldiers unless their presence interferes directly with the military. Members of CPT say they have made it clear that they are present in Al Khalil merely to document, but have been told by soldiers that they are subject to arrest whenever they attempt to follow military patrols through residential areas, film, or remain present during searches or interrogations of civilians. Yet twice in recent weeks, they say, soldiers threatened to shoot or kill a CPT member. In multiple instances soldiers used the threat of arrest to prevent CPT from observing and documenting incidents which included the detention or intimidation of children.

Summary of Incidences follows verbatim, as provided by CPT

1) Incidences when CPT was threaten with arrest while attempting to observe the Israeli Armys Golani brigade:

On February 14,at around 4:00 PM two people from CPT encountered a patrol of eight Golani soldiers in the Old City. The soldiers told them that if they attempted to follow the patrol they would be arrested. The soldiers body searched two men against a wall in Bab al Baladiya, and then stopped a 12 year old boy, who was headed for the Ibrahimi mosque and was carrying a large plastic bag of folded tissues. After being ordered by the Soldiers, the boy opened the top of the bag. The soldiers then ripped the bag open and then took him by the coat and lead him out of sight of CPT. The soldiers told CPT members that if they attempted to follow they would be arrested. The boy was held for about 15 minutes out of the sight of internationals and was then released.
On February 18 around 4:00 PM, Golani soldiers in Bab al Baladiya detained 4 youths, age 12-17, and began to take them through the Old City. The soldiers wanted to know were the boys lived. Two people from CPT were present and followed the soldiers, along with the mother of one of the boys. The soldiers used their rifles to shove the mother and CPT back, and repeatedly told CPT and the mother that if they continued to walk with them they would be arrested. The soldiers took the boys into a nearby settlement and then to the Kyriat Arba police station. They were later released.
On February 20th at around 8:30 AM, CPT encountered a group of four Golani soldiers who were stopping people and checking IDs in the shopping area of the Old City. After checking IDs for about 45 minutes, the soldiers were joined by four more soldiers and the patrol moved up into the nearby residential streets. When members of CPT attempted to follow 20 meters behind the patrol, the soldiers threatened them with arrest. CPT explained that they were not intending to interfere with the soldiers and the soldiers told them, "We are the law and we say you cannot follow us."
On February 20th at around 6pm, soldiers detained a Palestinian photographer and an international observer at checkpoint 56 for 1 hour for taking pictures. The soldiers told CPT that if they took photos of the detention they would be detained and arrested.
On February 26th at around 4 PM a patrol of six Golani soldiers stopped four young boys above Baba al Baladiya and took them up into the residential area above the bus station. They told a member of CPT that he could not follow and would be arrested if he continued. The soldiers were showing the boys photos on a camera and asking who was in the photos and where the people lived. Another member of CPT approached from another direction and met the soldiers and the boys near the Spanish academy. The soldiers again told that member of CPT that she would be arrested if she approached them.The children were then released.
On March 3rd two people from CPT attempted to follow a patrol of 12 Golani soldiers in the old city in the late afternoon but were told if they continued they would be arrested.
On March 6th at around 3PM, A Golani patrol took 2 young boys (about 10 years of age) up to the rooftop of a Palestinian home in the old city to interrogate them. Two CPT members followed them to the roof to observe the incident. The CPT members were told to go down or they would be arrested. The boys were released after a few minutes and told CPT the soldiers wanted to know who was throwing stones at the soldiers and who was breaking windows at the settlement

2) Incidences when Israeli Armys Golani Brigade threatened to shoot and/or kill CPT:

On February 25th at around 3:30 PM during the weekly tour of Israeli settlers through the Old City, Golani soldiers told CPT and other international observers that they had to be back 15 meters from the soldiers. CPT moved back and continued to observe, whereupon a soldier ran forward towards CPT and International observers, aimed his rifle at them, and said, I want to shoot you through the head with a bullet.
On February 5th, around 7:30 AM, a member of CPT stopped to observe a Golani soldier yelling at two Palestinians from the roof top. When the CPTer remained to watch, the soldier told CPT to leave. CPT responded by saying "No." The soldier then pulled out his gun, looked through the scope, and pointed it at the CPT member and told him to leave again and motioned with his gun. The CPT member left the sight of the solider and returned with a camera. The soldier then stopped pointing his gun at the CPT and left the viewing area of the CPT member.

Source: Christian Peacemaker Teams

YouTube video entitled "Israeli Soldiers Threaten Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron" posted October 2011 on The History and Facts channel purports to show CPT video of Israeli soldiers threatening arrest of observers.

1000 Marchers reenact Selma-to-Montgomery march today, Protest AL anti-immigrant law

2012-03-08T19:35:00.001-06:00

Participants marching for civil rights
from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965
Source: Wikimedia Commons

A contingent of 1,000 marchers today called on lawmakers to repeal Alabama’s vehemently anti-immigrant law during the reenactment of the Selma-to-Montgomery march.

Latinos, Blacks, civil rights, labor and immigrant rights groups all came together in a show of solidarity that racially discriminatory laws will not be tolerated in Alabama or any other state.

Among the marchers were 400 members of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) and 200 members of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ).

Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change, a member of FIRM protested the law's damaging effects: “This law has given police carte blanche to racially profile people. It has kept children from school and, forced hardworking families to leave Alabama costing the state $10.8 billion annually.”

Bhargava noted one positive effect of the law: "...it has brought together black, brown and white people, labor, clergy, civil rights, immigrant rights and human rights groups,” he said. “We will hold the state Legislature accountable for dragging Alabama back into its darkest days of discrimination. We will hold businesses accountable if they don’t speak up against this law. We will take this fight to other states thinking about enacting similar laws.”

The other FIRM members participating are: Alliance for a Just Society; Alliance for Immigrant Rights (Michigan); CASA of Maryland; Change Nation North Carolina; Churches United to Save and Heal (New York); Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (California); Colorado Progressive Coalition; Florida Immigrant Coalition; Gamaliel Foundation; Idaho Community Action Network; Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Make the Road New York; Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition; National Korean American Service and Education Consortium; Nebraska Appleseed; New York Immigrant Coalition; One America (Washington); Pineros y Campesinos Unidos de Noroeste (Oregon); Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada; Sunflower Action (Kansas); Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, and; Washington Community Action Network.

Source: The Center for Community Change

Finding Fernanda: A response from the U.S.-Mexico border to a book by Erin Siegal

2012-03-03T10:49:00.002-06:00

Finding Fernanda, a book by Erin Siegal, carefully recounts the triumph of two “ordinary” women who, without even knowing one another, managed to overturn the work of an international child trafficking syndicate and restore stolen children to one birth mother. This “David vs. Goliath”-style tale evokes the drama of high-suspense fiction. But, unfortunately, it is all-too-true: a real-life story that journalist Siegal relentlessly researched and meticulously documents.

The book’s value is innate. Through the lens of one ruptured family, whose story has an against-all-odds fortunate outcome, Finding Fernanda considers the social and political issues surrounding international adoption from Guatemala. Replete with detail to arrest and engage the reader, it’s a tale well-told. The subject should interest not only anyone considering or involved in this type of adoption but also practitioners of international relations and promoters of human rights. And, I would suggest: the latter category might rightly include us all.

The book by extension also has specific applications to us on the U.S.-Mexico border. As a member of the border community, I recurrently noticed parallels between the Guatemalan context that facilitated child trafficking to the contemporary Mexican social and political climate that perpetuates drug war violence. The “blind eye” U.S. officials turn toward filed complaints and grievances plays a substantial role in perpetuating impunity in Mexico, as happened in Guatemala.

The horror of child trafficking in Mexico
Indeed, this week a post by Siegel for InSight Crime reports that Mexican police uncovered a child trafficking ring in mid-January in Guadalajara. This ring has operated in the state of Jalisco since the 1980's, providing hundreds of children to adoptive families in other countries. The line between adoption and the purchase or trafficking of children is indeed thin and extends far beyond Guatemala.

Poverty, psychological manipulation, illiteracy, systemic abuse and untreated trauma—all factors at play in Guatemala, as illustrated in Finding Fernanda, afflict the Mexican political and social climate as well. Siegel is to be congratulated for staying with the story of child exploitation and for expanding her focus to include a country neighboring the United States.

Personal emotional movement

A sensitive person is hurt by false accusation. On a personal level, Finding Fernanda healed one such hurt. In 1997 when I decided to learn Spanish, I chose to begin my studies in remote northern Guatemala. One day, on a break from classes, I began interacting with street kids in the city plaza. Eager for adult attention, the children were patient with my complete inability to say anything. But, abruptly I both felt and saw from the edge of the plaza, to my dismay and confusion, two Guatemalan women glaring intensely at me with vigilant anger.

Later, upon reading a guidebook, I realized that their body language was communicating their suspicion that I may kidnap and export the children. Shocked, the memory of their unspoken accusation stung a bit whenever I recalled it. But my own anger at the ruthless conversion of children into commodities, as systemically documented in Finding Fernanda, led me to cross the plaza and stand (figuratively at least) with those who were assuming a protective stance toward those most vulnerable children.

Hope in the face of evil

Life in El Paso--for several years now-- provides a front-row seat to a horror show: the drug war reality in Juarez. Viewing a human rights disaster daily is daunting, discouraging, disempowering. Finding Fernanda illustrates that “ordinary” people (like me?) can effect change, can make a difference, can resist and reverse evil. The power of love moved two mothers—who lacked the right “resumes” or “skill sets” for the task-- never to give up, even in the face of insurmountable odds. It is a lesson that inspires, even as we are privy to the multiple risks and sacrifices that love required of them.

On one level, Finding Fernanda recounts enormous greed and evil: the selling of children as commodities. This is a reality from which we tend to shrink; it’s easier to ignore what we fear and hate. But, the power of love [I’m not talking about sugar-coated, storybook feelings here but rather self-giving action] is not limited to heroes of history or Nobel Prize winners. It is ours to claim and use for good.

Statistics and facts arouse our minds. But relationships move us to change more effectively than do statistics. Finding Fernanda, by introducing us to the people directly impacted in trafficking black market, captures our hearts. Siegel’s determination to investigate, document and communicate an ugly reality in this book, ultimately contributes to a better world.
_________
Disclosure: I received a copy of Finding Fernanda from the publisher for potential review.

Arizona Rights Group Calls for a complete block of SB 1070

2012-03-02T22:26:00.000-06:00

Arizona human rights groups applaud U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton's ruling Wednesday that blocked the day labor sections of Arizona's anti-immigrant law known as Senate Bill (SB) 1070. One affected section criminalized anyone who climbed into a car to be transported to work if that vehicle had stopped in traffic in order to pick up him/her. Another criminalized drivers for picking up day laborers. Both sections have been enforced since July 2010, effectively criminalizing economic survival in the state for many.

Many of the most extreme and controversial parts of SB 1070 were blocked two years ago, including provisions that would have required police officers to check immigration status on the basis of a nebulous "reasonable suspicion." However, Judge Bolton rejected the federal government's argument to issue a preliminary injunction against the entire statute. Tucson's Coalición de Derechos Humanos reaffirms their call to the Supreme Court to rule SB 1070 unconstitutional.

Since its enactment in 2010, some sections of the law as well as the "spirit" of SB 1070 have been in full effect in Arizona. The law solidified the collaboration between the police and immigration enforcement. It has perpetuated a xenophobic political climate facilitating the introduction of other anti-immigrant bills into the state legislature, such as former State Senator Russell Pearce's SB 1611. And it has had nationwide implications: copycat laws have been considered in other states and implemented in Alabama, Utah, South Carolina, Indiana and Georgia.

The racist precedent SB 1070 established in Arizona has affected the nation in a manner incompatible with human dignity. Coalición de Derechos Humanos not only calls for the entire law be declared unconstitutional but also anticipates that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon take that action.

Source: Coalición de Derechos Humanos

El Paso Farmworkers announce annual Chavez march

2012-02-26T19:13:00.000-06:00

El Paso Farmworkers announce their annual march to honor Cesar Chavez is scheduled for March 31. Participants will meet at the Farmworker Center, 201 East Ninth Avenue. The colorful event will pass through the streets of downtown El Paso, featuring music, banners, drumming, chanting and costumes.

For more information, contact Carlos Marentes at Sin Fronteras.

Illegal action, statements from U.S. citizens who entered their country illegally

2012-02-21T09:27:00.002-06:00

Udu-Gama, Bourgeois walk around border fence, enter U.S. "without inspection."

Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of School of the Americas Watch, and SOAW field organizer Nico Udu-Gama entered the United States--their country of citizenship--without inspection Sunday in a direct act of nonviolent civil disobedience. Their action climaxed a week-long delegation visit of solidarity with human rights activists on the U.S.-Mexico border.

As supporters chanted "Bienvenidos" ["Welcome"] the two returned to the U.S. side of the vigil after communing with supporters on the Mexico side of the fence during a street drama held at the end of the chain link border fence between Sunland Park, NM and Anapra, Chihuahua. The two explained the significance of their action upon re-entry. Their remarks were interrupted by a low fly-over by a helicopter, an illustration of the militarization of the border they denounced.

Bourgeois and Udu-Gama were arrested by Border Patrol agents following the vigil activities. They were detained for some hours then released without being charged.

Images of landmark Cristo Rey statue atop El Paso's Mount Cristo Rey created a dramatic backdrop for the street drama. People of faith consider noncompliance with U.S. law in protest of the U.S. foreign and economic policies that create violence and lead to countless deaths as an expression of their spirituality.

Still images of the action can be found here, here, extended video coverage here.

Two arrests: Vigil and direct action on U.S.-Mexico border protest militarization, oppression

2012-02-19T17:52:00.002-06:00

Udu-Gama (left) and Bourgeois (center front) under arrest at border.

Fr. Roy Bourgeois and Nico Udu-Gama of the School of the Americas Watch delegation were arrested today for entering the U.S. without inspection. The SOAW delegation and and local activists challenged the policies of militarization and oppression during a vigil at the U.S.-Mexico fence at Sunland Park, New Mexico and Anapra, Chihuahua that concluded with a street drama. The arrests climaxed a week of solidarity between SOAW activists and border human rights activists during a ten-day delegation that included three days in Juarez.

SOAW delegates revealed this weekduring their visit that Julian Leyzaola Perez, the controversial Chief of Police in Ciudad Juarez, is himself a graduate of the School of the Americas. The School of the Ameicas, now renamed WHINSEC, is a U.S. military school located in Ft. Benning, GA specifically to train Latin American military leaders. Activists have evidence that the U.S. taxpayer-funded school trains its graduates in torture techniques which they then use against their own citizens.

At least a third of the original Zeta cartel, the most notorious of all criminal organizations, were trained at the SOA, as have thousands of Latin American soldiers, including 4,000 Mexican military. Policies of militarization and oppression continue ot lead to the deaths of thousands of Latin Americans, as the death count nears 10,000 in Ciudad Juarez alone during the last five years.

Vigilers met at the Anapra fence in Sunland Park, New Mexico this morning at 10 AM and walked to the end of the fence, near the base of Mount Cristo Rey. There SOAW delegates performed a street drama in which Bourgeois and Udu-Gama crossed into Mexico, later reappearing and reentering the United States side of the border. It is an infraction to enter the U.S. other than at a designated port of entry.

Fickr set: Images of the vigil and action

The protest highlighted U.S. military and police aid that continues to flow into Mexico and the continued expenditure of millions more on walls, fences and the militarization of the border. Meanwhile thousands flee violence in Mexico and Latin American countries, a flight that results in death for untold numbers.

Officials arrested the two activists as the event ended. This short video documents their apprehension:

Activists plan action at Mexico border fence at El Paso this weekend

2012-02-17T17:15:00.001-06:00

Border Fence at Anapra, near El Paso, TX--site of Sunday's action (file photo)

Activists from the School of the Americas Watch, Project Puente and other organizations around the border region will hold a vigil Sunday, February 19 to call attention to the role of the US government in the militarization of Mexico and the failed War on Drugs.

The vigil at the Sunland Park-Anapra Fence beginning at 10 AM also hopes to call attention to the unjust US immigration policies that criminalize those fleeing the violence.

This activity culminates a week-long delegation of 10 people, headed by SOA Watch founder Fr. Roy Bourgeois, from across the United States, which has met with people on both sides of the border in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. Over 60,000 people have been killed in the violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon deployed some 50,000 troops and federal police five years ago to confront the drug cartels. Much of this militarization has been bankrolled by the US government’s Merida Initiative, which has poured over $1.5 billion into this “war on drugs,” especially in the form of US military equipment and training. The result of this militarization has failed to curtail the flow of drug, but has caused the loss of thousands of innocent Mexican lives. The death toll in Ciudad Juarez alone is nearing 10,000.

Perpetrators of the violence on both sides of this declared "war" have strong links to the US School of the Americas/WHINSEC, a U.S. taxpayer-funded military training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. Ciudad Juarez Police Chief, Julian Leyzaola Perez, a graduate of the SOA, has been accused by human rights groups of participating "directly in the torture of individuals who were arbitrarily detained, transported to military bases, and subjected to beatings, electric shocks, death threats, and asphyxiation to obtain false confessions" (UNHCR report). On the side of the drug cartels, a third of the original members of the drug cartel known as the “Zetas” are deserted members of the Mexican military who have graduated from the SOA/WHINSEC.

SOA graduates across Latin America have been implicated in serious human rights abuses, from torture, disappearance, drug trafficking and murder. In 2009, SOA graduates overthrew the government in Honduras, while in Colombia, 10,000 troops have been trained to fight the “War on Drugs”. In October 2011, Time Magazine published the article “Is It Time to Shutter the Americas' 'Coup Academy'?”

This past week, people in Mexico convened for a National Forum Against Militarization in Mexico. SOA Watch stands in solidarity with them and draws inspiration from citizens of Mexico who have been rising up to resist this militarization.

Source: School of Americas Watch