A month of vigilantism at the border courtesy of the Minutemen spotlights the political divide on immigration.
By Asheesh Siddique, Princeton University
The Arizona-Mexico border is one of the most arid parts of America, but also holds some of this country’s most beautiful national landmarks. Deep canyons, along with ancient pueblos built as early as 700 AD, dot the land, making the region a prime tourist destination. Tall mountain ranges, swift rivers, jackrabbits, and coyotes create a natural environment like no other in the world.
But there’s trouble in paradise.
Right-wing activists allied with white supremacists this past month to wage a vigilante campaign of aggression against illegal Mexican migrants along the border. Throughout April, a coalition of anti-immigration activists calling themselves the Minuteman Project engaged in an effort to “peacefully observe” the border for signs of illegal immigration. The organizers of the effort, which came to a temporary end this past Sunday, claimed that their intentions are legal, benign, and free of racist motivations. "Our objective will be to spot these intruders and inform the U.S. Border Patrol of their location so that border patrol agents can intercept and detain them," read the project’s website. "We will NOT be confronting the illegal aliens or making citizens’ arrests."
But the Project was not as innocent as it claimed to be. Many members of the National Alliance, the largest Neo-Nazi group in America, attended meetings of the vigilante group, and even distributed flyers to local residents on behalf of the Minutemen stating that "Non-Whites are turning America into a Third World slum.” And even as the Minutemen claimed to be acting to protect America, their actions directly violated basic human rights protections guaranteed to migrant workers under international treaties—irrespective of their status under U.S. immigration law (Part III, Article 10. Note: no distinction made in terms of legal status).
The rhetoric of the participating organizations’ leadership also belied their true motivations. Glenn Spencer, one of America’s leading anti-immigration activists and the founder of American Border Patrol, has argued that “Mexican culture is based on deceit” and “Chicanos and Mexicanos lie as a means of survival.” Civil Homeland Defense’s founder, Chris Simcox, has argued that Mexican immigrants “have no problem slitting your throat and taking your money or selling drugs to your kids or raping your daughters and they are evil people.” Most of the funding for these groups has come from organizations with extremist connections, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform—an organization that has ties to the racist Council of Conservative Citizens. And while the Minuteman Project has denied being a racist organization, James Gilchrist, its founder, recently defended white supremacists on Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes.
Southeast Arizona has a long history of racially motivated violence against immigrants, but things had been fairly calm during the 1980s and 1990s. Tensions between the white population and Mexican migrants, however, flared up beginning in 1999 as groups like American Border Patrol, Ranch Rescue, the Minuteman Project, and Civil Homeland Defense began to organize campaigns of harassment and intimidation against these laborers.
These new efforts among conservatives have surged in the wake of 9/11, seeking to capitalize on the new climate of fear to push an anti-immigrant, jingoistic agenda that seeks to curtail due-process rights to non-citizens and impose federal restrictions on the types of documentation government officials can accept as valid types of identification.
Legal observers from the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations spent the month monitoring the activities of the Minutemen and their allies. They reported several disturbing civil liberties violations by the vigilantes, including one incident where volunteers allegedly held a migrant against his will and photographed him wearing clothing with the slogan “Bryan Barton caught an illegal alien and all I got was this t-shirt,” and even occasions where the Minutemen took migrants hostage and tried to attack them with dogs.
Furthermore, the Minuteman Project’s activities disrupted the work of the legal immigration authorities. Volunteers unfamiliar with the provisions the Border Patrol already has in place tripped sensors, caused false alarms that taxed the efforts of law enforcement agents. One agent noted the toll of these mistakes: “Every sensor has to be addressed. It has taken away from our normal operations.”
In spite of the group’s radical views and racist ties, the Minutemen received resounding endorsement from prominent political figures, including at least ten members of Congress, including Rep. Tom Tancredo, chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been criticized by immigration rights groups for making comments “nothing short of base racism” in support of the Project. In addition, prominent conservative pundits and journalists, including Michelle Malkin, Cal Thomas, and George Metcalf, strongly defended the Minutemen—suggesting that the extremism of Spencer, Simcox, and Gilchrist is very much within the mainstream of conservative political discourse on immigration.
The conclusion of the Minutemen’s month of vigilantism came as Congress continues to debate how to address the genuine problem of illegal immigration. In March, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that there are about 10.3 million undocumented residents in the United States, with 57% coming from Mexico. Arizona has experienced one of the most rapid growths in its undocumented migrant population. One proposal being floated in Washington is the REAL ID Act, which passed the House in February and is currently pending in the Senate. Written by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, the legislation attempts to make it easier to send asylum-seekers back to the country they are fleeing, and makes it more difficult for the courts to review unlawful actions made by the government in deportation cases. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has explicitly highlighted the similarities between the REAL ID Act and the Minuteman Project, saying that both create “an atmosphere of hostility.” Dean also noted that the Act would provide incentives for vigilantes to corral immigrants without ensuring their identity, creating the potential for more Minutemen-style civil liberties violations.
Progressives continue to wrestle with this issue. Some who advocate for change argue that we need to have a skills-based approach to immigration, encouraging the immigration of highly skilled workers from abroad who will be able to contribute significantly to American economic growth, while at the same time gradually reducing the number of unskilled workers. This is, of course, quite different from the more aggressive approach favored by conservatives and the Minutemen.
If there’s anything to be learned from the sorry saga of the Minuteman Project, it’s that efforts to make America a land of exclusion, not freedom, are pervasive even in the age of globalization. Declaring ‘victory’ in their efforts on April 30, the Minutemen have now announced plans to expand their efforts northward to the U.S.-Canada border, and into other Southwestern states. Progressives must be just as vigilant in ensuring that this nation remains a genuine land of opportunity for millions of immigrants from around the world. In her famous 1883 poem “The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus offered a vision of an America open to receiving the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” a ‘city on a hill’ where people could come and create a better life free of poverty, sickness, and persecution. We must remain true to Lazarus’ dream of opportunity—a dream that both defines us and unites us as Americans.
Asheesh Siddique is the Editor of the Princeton Progressive Review, as well as one of the organizers of the “Fristabuster” at Princeton University.
Illustration: Matt Bors