This past Tuesday, the Obama administration announced they will be sending 1200 troops to the southwest border in an attempt to keep out the drug cartels that have been wreaking havoc in border communities. Additional border security funds were also requested. This move is bad news for anyone on either side of the literal and figurative fence.
Two years ago, I went on a trip down to the Mexico Arizona border and walked the desert path that most migrants take when they cross from Sonora, Mexico to Sonora, Arizona. Despite the fact that billions had already been spent on border security "technology," the wall had gaps that were miles long and the majority of the cameras we saw were broken 7-11 style surveillance cameras. Border Patrol officers on ATVs were forced to resort to tactics such as pushing migrants into cacti to stop them from crossing.
According to a recently released report [pdf] from the National Foundation for American Policy, there have been more than 4,000 deaths at the border since 1998 when immigration policy changes barred the majority of immigrants from entering the country legally. The deaths spiked in 2009 when militarization of the border increased.
Let’s be clear, no one wants drug traffickers to enter our country, but the people affected by the militarization of the border are not the drug traffickers. They are the farm workers who are seeking agricultural jobs on this side of the border, the women who take birth control for over a month because the probability of being raped in the desert is so high. They are the Native American communities whose reservations are literally divided by the border wall and who must jump through legal hurdles to walk from one end of their land to the other. The people being stopped are not the ones who have the money and power to wreak havoc in our country. Those people will still have the ability and resources to get past 1200 additional troops, cameras, and a wall.
Obama’s presidential campaign was successful in large part because of the Latino vote. Knowing he needed this vote, he used the slogan used for decades by Latino social justice movements “si se puede” and translated it into English “yes we can.” He made promises of pro-immigrant legislation like the DREAM Act that would help immigrant youth or AgJobs that would provide a path to legalization for the farm workers that keep our economy afloat.
Unless this move is step one in a two step plan that includes enforcement and a fair legalization plan, spending funds during a time of economic crisis to enforce broken laws is not the solution. 1200 troops will not address the root causes of migration. This plan is like sticking a piece of really expensive gum into a dam and expecting it to stop a flood. Or perhaps like pouring mud into a gushing oil well.
As Director of Cabrini Immigrant Services, Christina has expanded the CIS Justice for Immigrants Campaign, a community organizing group that has engaged both documented and undocumented community leaders in the federal fight for immigration reform through leadership trainings, legislative visits, lobby days, and mobilizations. In 2007, Christina was named One of the 100 Most Influential Filipinas in the US by the Filipina Women's Network because of her advocacy work for immigrant youth and families.
