CPTnet
29 September 2005

ARIZONA/SONORA: An open letter to U.S. Congressional staffers

Last week we visited, hoping to nurture just, effective and compassionate
immigration law. You already know that current extraordinary levels of
militarization/enforcement have failed to stem migration. Yet without
exception, you seem to accept the increased militarization in border
communities that will happen under a new immigration bill.

I find this position inconsistent with the intelligence and good-heartedness
that I experienced among you. To honor your committed relationship with
constituents, you must do better. You must resist the lie that offers
battering blows of militarization as a solution.

We talked about the effects of that militarization. I told you about migrant
deaths in the desert. One of you told me that ten years ago a rancher woke
up and headed to the barn, found a small group of migrants huddled in a
corner and bought them out a pot of coffee before seeing them on their way.
Now the rancher takes a shot gun rather than a coffee pot. This is not
security.

Militarization has increased the stakes in migration, has played into the
hands of organized crime. Larger penalties, increased militarization and
physical barriers in populated areas have created a situation where the
guides of migrants are more likely to be beholden to a criminal syndicate,
to be armed, to lead larger groups through the most dangerous, arid, remote
areas, and to leave the weakest to die in the desert.

Militarized enforcement policies have also landed direct repeated blows on
border communities. Helicopters buzz low over citizens. Video and drone
surveillance violates every boundary of privacy. High amp lamps shine into
windows. Border patrol jeeps speed through neighborhoods where children
play, and tear up delicate, endangered and federally "protected" wilderness.

One of you asked me what further enforcement border communities would choose
in exchange for keeping provisions favorable to immigrants in the bill. I
know you mean well. On the hill it feels like you need to give in to
further militarization. But it is a horrible question. It is a batterer
asking his terrorized spouse, "Where shall I hit you this time? Where will
the bruise not show?"

The answer is, "Don't hit any more. Don't batter, ever again."
Militarization needs to be rolled back so that communities can live
unafraid. Border Patrol agents need to be accountable, to know that they
cannot "do whatever they want" (a direct quote from an agent). Heavily
armed vigilantes need to be restricted rather than encouraged as they
impersonate law enforcement officials with hats that declare them "Border
Patrol"-- and hide the word "unofficial" on the brim.

Migrants are coming to the United States out of hope and economic
desperation. People need the jobs. U.S. employers need the workers. This
is not a flow to be dammed. Like the San Pedro, it's a river that flows
north, the treasure of water to a parched land. Let it flow humanely,
legally, with welcome.

Calling for courage, decency and sanity in immigration reform,

Reverend Carol Rose

Co-Director, Christian Peacemaker Teams