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NACO, Sonora, Mexico - Carrying signs and flags calling for peace, unity and solidarity, nearly 125 people walked across what a Tucson immigration lawyer called "a schizophrenic border" Saturday afternoon.
The last official day of the Minuteman Project was celebrated by those who opposed volunteers coming to the U.S.-Mexico border. No project volunteers were seen on Saturday.
When the group from the United States reached the Sonoran city's main plaza, they joined nearly 40 people from that community for a border unity event.
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"We're here in a small Mexican border town," said Isabel Garcia, an outspoken critic of U.S. border polices.
She is director of the Derechos Humanos, Human Rights Coalition. She also is the chief of the Pima County Public Defender's Office in Tucson.
Garcia told the crowd that the problem with the Minuteman Project volunteers is that they do not understand the complexity of border issues. As for the comments made by the project leaders and volunteers, "they should not be believed," she said.
The border communities in Sonora and Arizona have lived in peace for generations and now people from all over the United States have disrupted the border's tranquility, she said.
The Minuteman Project is all about pure anti-immigration hate, "and that is wrong," she added.
While project volunteers said they came to Arizona to become involved in a public discourse, they would not listen to the truth, Garcia said.
In April, a number of volunteers, reportedly from every state in the Union, came to Cochise County to monitor the border to stem the flow of illegal immigrants from crossing the line. Organizers said they were successful in reducing the flow.
U.S. Border Patrol officials said the volunteers were more of a hindrance. They said the agency's actions in the past year in putting more emphasis in Cochise County with more technology and agents is a reason there is a downward turn in the number of apprehensions.
Because of the concern for violence against its citizens, Mexican officials also increased their actions south of the border, leading those involved in the illegal trade of crossing people into the United States to temporarily find other avenues, U.S. Border Patrol officials said.
Tucsonan Margo Cowan said what happens along the border between communities on both sides of the line "is much more good than bad."
The immigration lawyer said the problem with massive illegal immigrant traffic is the U.S. government's split personality, where cheap labor is wanted while pretending to secure the borders.
The United States knows the Mexican government needs the money sent home by Mexicans who have crossed the border illegally, she said.
Mexico is the second most important trade partner with the United States, and the $18 billion sent to Mexican families from their loved ones the United States is part of the trade picture, Cowan said.
While she said it is important for the American government to ensure the border is protected from people who want to do the nation harm, she said she doesn't see allowing Mexicans to come in to work as a threat.
The pressure on the Border Patrol is immense and has led to violent acts by inexperienced agents, Cowan said.
She said that on Thursday she interviewed a young Mexican man, in his early 20s, who may have been hurt by a Border Patrol agent near Marana. His injuries are consistent with being beaten, Cowan said.
The only way for the U.S. government to treat its schizophrenia is to allow people seeking jobs to cross the border legally instead of making them do it illegally, Cowan said.
Cowan has an idea for a guest-worker program. She said those who enter the country for a job and file U.S. tax return the next year should be allowed to seek other employment in the nation and then be allowed to seek citizenship.
"If they pay taxes, they should be allowed to become citizens," Cowan said.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615.
Joe Hicks wrote on Oct 8, 2007 2:22 PM: