[www-features] PROPOSAL: A Rising Movement Against Borders

Sun Apr 3 18:30:00 PDT 2005

(US IMC folks, can we replace the current AZ feature with this one?  
Maybe without the first paragraph?)

TOPIC: RACISM, GLOBALIZATION, RESISTANCE TO BORDERS
LOCATION: Global

Original location:  
http://publish.sandiego.indymedia.org/es/2005/04/108151.shtml
Based on:  
http://arizona.indymedia.org/archives/archive_by_id.php? 
id=155&category_id=1

summary:

All over Europe, movements came together on April 2nd to demand Freedom  
of Movement and the Right to Stay and to act against migrant detention  
centers. <a  
href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/04/308307.html">UK  
Reports</a> | <a  
href="http://noborder.org/actionday2005/display.php?id=334">More  
European Reports</a>.
<br><br>
Meanwhile in the US, what better place than Tombstone, Arizona, where  
gun-toting actors dressed like sheriffs and outlaws keep the nostalgia  
of the Wild West alive, to be the focal point of yet another vigilante  
convergence. The Minuteman Project, as it is called, is being organized  
by two of southern Arizona's most notorious and outspoken border  
vigilantes: Chris Simcox and Jim Gilchrist. Their plan is to place  
"observers" every quarter mile along a 20-mile stretch of border from  
Douglas to the San Pedro River during the month of  
April.</p><p>However, their actions will not go unopposed. Legal  
observers are being trained to watch over and document the Minutemen.  
<a  
href="http://arizona.indymedia.org/calendar/event_display_detail.php? 
event_id=191&day=1&month=4&year=2005">Counter protests</a>, vigils and  
other border activities are also planned to take place throughout  
April. ( <a target="_blank"  
href="http://derechoshumanosaz.net/aprilunity2005.htm">April Unity  
Events</a> )</p><p>
In San Diego and Tijuana, on April 2nd, 2005, numerous organizations  
including the Border Angels, FIST ( Fight Imperialism, Stand Together),  
the Brown Berets, Code Pink, and the ORGANIC collective held a march  
and a rally at the US/Mexico border, the site of the construction of  
the Triple Border Fence. This rally was against HR 418, against the  
Triple Border Fence and against the Minutemen. Between 50 and 75 people  
were in attendance for the 1.5 mile march, followed by a rally on both  
sides of the fence. In addition, plans for <a  
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/es/2005/04/108157.shtml">borderHack  
2.005</a> were announced for this summer.
<br><br>
As the MinuteMen project in Arizona takes the media spotlight, Congress  
is quietly trying to roll back 30 years of environmental regulations  
and create a buffer zone of martial law along the borders of the US. HR  
418 recently passed in the House and is currently being fast tracked  
through the Senate. This law would completely exempt any project to  
build fences or roads in the region of the borders of the US from all  
environmental laws. This would include the border with Canada as well  
as the border with Mexico.
</p><p><b>Indymedia Arizona Coverage:</b><br></br><a  
href="http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/25825.php">Minuteman  
Project invades Southern Arizona, highlights complexity of border  
crisis</a><br><a  
href="http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/25720.php">Legal  
Observers to Keep Eye on Minute Man Project</a><br><a  
href="http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/25634.php">Minutemen  
Most Likely Exaggerators</a><br><a  
href="http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/25579.php">Crimes  
Against Humanity</a></p><p>In Texas, anti-racist activists have been  
busy shutting down "immigrant hunts" organized by the "Young  
Conservatives of Texas", in which the fascist youth play at what their  
allies in Arizona are doing for real:<br></br> <a  
href="http://austin.indymedia.org/feature/display/19349/ 
index.php">Austin IMC: Hundreds Protest Racist Immigrant Hunt</a><br><a  
href="http://ntimc.org/newswire.php?story_id=2219">North Texas IMC: The  
Young Conservatives and the Racist Games They Play...</a><br>
<br>
<a  
href="http://publish.sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2005/04/ 
108162.shtml">Photos from SD</a> | <a  
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2005/04/108152.shtml">Video of  
SD/TJ Protest</a> | <a  
href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.00418:">HR 418 -  
The Real ID Act</a> | <a  
href="http://www.indybay.org/archives/archive_by_id.php? 
id=2881&category_id=56">SF Indybay Coverage of HR 418</a> | <a  
href="http://www.indybay.org/archives/archive_by_id.php? 
id=3022&category_id=56">SF Indybay HR 418 Protest</a> | <a  
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/es/2005/04/108157.shtml">borderHack  
2.005</a><br>
<br>
Google <a  
href="http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&tab=wn&ie=UTF 
-8&q=minutemen+&btnG=Search+News">Minutemen News</a> |
MSNBC: <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7358268/">Minutemen vs.  
Protesters</a>

story, from sd:

The Minutemen's rhetoric is rooted in racism and a twisted 
interpretation of history and economics. They blame the migrants for 
everything, then blame the government for not shutting them out, all 
the while overlooking the impacts of U.S. free trade policies that are 
forcing people off their land all over Latin America, leaving few 
options but to come to the country that caused all the problems in the 
first place. 
 
In San Diego, Speakers decried the loss of life by people trying to 
cause the border. They read the letter of a mother who lost her son to 
the border. A representative of the SD Native Plant Society talked 
about the many endangered plant and animal species that would be 
destroyed by the fence. Every speaker spoke out about the racism and 
violence of the MinuteMen project. Enrique Morones of the Border Angels 
urged everyone to action, saying "We can change this. We can make a 
stand". Speakers also spoke from the Tijuana side of the fence. 
Members of the ORGANIC collective announced their plans for <a 
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/es/2005/04/108157.shtml">borderHack 
2.005</a> this summer.

Recently, the California Coastal Commission rejected a proposal by the 
Department of Homeland Security to construct the last 5 miles of the 
Triple Border Fence in San Diego. The Coastal Commission stated that 
the construction of this fence would destroy miles of sensitive 
wetlands, home to numerous endangered plant and animal species. HR 418 
would allow the Triple Border Fence to be built in San Diego, despite 
the 100 meter by 5 mile, highway sized swath of environmental 
destruction it would cause. In addition, this would only cause more 
migrant people to be forced to cross in the desert, resulting in more 
deaths. Already over 3,200 migrants have died crossing the US/Mexico 
border since operation Gatekeeper began in 1994.

As a California State Parks officer said at the protest, "it doesn't  
matter how many fences we put up, if they want to get through - they'll  
find a way." Even he understands that the forces driving migration are  
powerful and that the fence itself will be totally ineffective. As  
someone who works in the area every day, he says that there isn't much  
of a need for another fence - as not many people try to cross through  
that area.