News Elsewhere

The Line that Divides

Climbed over, guarded and ignored, it rises two stories high in places, separates two countries and engenders infinite stories. It is known as "the border" to some and "la frontera" to others. Some give it respect and support; others lean against it in frustration and anger. Most everyone is affected by it somehow, whether they know it or not. Here are the views of six people, whose ideas reveal a spectrum of possibilities. Wes Bramhall, President of Arizonans for Immigration Control, speaks about the dangers he believes immigration poses for America. Raquel Rubio Goldsmith, professor of Chicano history at the University of Arizona, speaks about the dangers she believes maintaining strict borders poses for people on both sides. Others share active ideas. Young political theorist Jordan Levinson proposes the obliteration of all borders, while Sue Goodman of Humane Borders proposes humanitarian efforts to aid ailing migrants in the desert. Those with perhaps the most firsthand encounters with the border, undocumented workers, speak about their journeys from Mexico and about the policies in both countries that fail to help them. Though I made many attempts to interview a representative from the Tucson sector of U.S. Border Patrol, no one there responded to my requests. While the words here reflect each speaker's personal opinions and experiences, collectively they speak to the wide range of opinions related to border issues. Whenever a wall is built, it creates two sides. Each side obstructs the view of those on the other side. What would happen if all of these speakers were to meet? Would their dialogue take them to a place above the line, where a panoramic view would be visible? My hope is that together these interviews offer a fuller, many-sided view of what is inherently a divisive issue. Wes Bramhall: Support the Border Patrol Wes Bramhall, 82, is the president of Arizonans for Immigration Control, a group advocating stricter immigration control and tighter borders. His group meets Saturdays at 1:30 p.m. at the Himmel Park Library. We have only two objectives: alert the public to the cause and problem of immigration, especially illegal immigration, and support the Border Patrol. The Border Patrol gets too much unjustified criticism from people who don't know which country they owe their allegiance to. Whenever somebody, maybe one of these radical groups, starts criticizing the Border Patrol, we have a counterdemonstration. In 1988 there was a movement afoot to make English the official language of state government. We worked on that. One nation undivided, one language. You gotta have that. In another generation, with all these ethnic groups keeping their own language not wanting to learn English, what's gonna happen? I'm a Republican. I think Bush sealed his fate with his endorsing of McCain and Kolbe's bill. They want to give amnesty to the 15 million illegal aliens in here, and when they do they can bring in their families. All these people are not making enough money to support a family. They're all uneducated. I'm not gonna vote for Bush because of that one thing. A million legal ones is bad enough without bringing another three or four million illegal ones every year. There's no question in my mind there's at least 15 million illegal aliens in our country right now. A million and a half cross the border every year, not apprehended. Can you keep that up? Look, if I were one of those people, those illegal aliens, I would be the first one across the border, don't get me wrong. I don't blame the people for trying. I'm blaming our government for allowing it happen. If you were starving down there, your family was starving, you'd be across the border like all the rest of 'em. But that's not the answer. The answer is for them to take care of their own people. To do the right thing, like us. I'm 82 years old. Whatever happens now is not going to affect me. I'm doing this for my grandchildren, because you gotta think of the next generation and what's gonna happen around here. Raquel Rubio Goldsmith: Cruel Policies

Raquel Rubio Goldsmith, 67, is a professor of Chicana history in the Mexican American Studies department at the University of Arizona. Born in Douglas, she studied at the National University of Mexico in Mexico City and lived in Latin America for many years. Having been born on the border and always very aware of there being two sides, I always thought that that's what the whole world was in a way. I was very aware of borders and authorities. I think that American people and Mexican people, one on one, get along fine. When we become official and businesslike, then suddenly the economic power of the United States kind of takes over. It doesn't allow that same relationship to exist that you have when two people are just talking. It gets in the way. It would be so wonderful if there could be a relationship where both groups could talk to each other like people and get away from the racial and economic stereotypes. People say it's romantic, but people also used to say getting rid of slavery was romantic, and we did away with it, didn't we? The way the world is organized, it doesn't have to be. We can change it. We can organize it in a different way. It's up to us to do it. What's happening on the border is just absolutely horrendous. The policy we have right now is a policy that is very cruel and … murderous. It forces people to cross in places that are so inhospitable that human life can barely make it. They didn't think people would have the will to come. It's not the will, it's the necessity. They refuse to believe that people really and truly need to feed their families. We consume cheap labor. We are doing the same thing with people that we do with drugs. People are being smuggled. They're going to come, no matter what. They wouldn't come if there were investments in their home countries. Everybody has a right to go wherever they want, everybody has a right to stay wherever they want. People with money can do that and people who don't have money can't. If we believe in humanity, then this is one of the human rights we have to examine and work toward making happen. In spite of the fact that it's so bad, what has been very encouraging is the number of people in this country, in this community, in Tucson, that have really stepped up to try to change it and make it better. They're demanding some kind of response from the government, watching what the World Trade Organization does, making demands on the United Nations, asking for re-examination of what free trade means. A few years ago there were very few people that were talking about these things and now there is a large number. That is very encouraging. Sue Ann Goodman: Save Lives

Sue Ann Goodman, 54, is the administrative coordinator for Humane Borders, a faith-based initiative that provides humanitarian assistance to migrants who cross the border, primarily by placing water stations in the desert. The group operates out of the First Christian Church in Tucson. At Humane Borders we have two very clear missions: to lower the level of death, and to work to change the laws and enforcement strategies. From a meager two water stations three years ago we now have 48, and we've put out 25,000 gallons of water. Somebody's been drinking that water, and are most likely alive today because of it. We need dramatic immigration reform. It has to be a political solution. Americans are functioning outside the bounds of integrity on this issue. We need to clean this up so that everybody's legal. Then nobody would have to walk through the desert to come to work. We predict that nothing is going to happen this summer. We're going to have a year just like we did last year - 205 deaths that we know of. We have a very good relationship with the Border Patrol. We worked with them before we put out water. They issued a statement saying that passive humanitarian assistance is within the bounds of the law. We run into them frequently. For the most part they're very happy that we're doing what we do because they don't like picking up dead bodies, either. We would love to be out of business. We would love to see the time come when migrants are not forced to cross the desert. Jordon Levinson: Eliminate the Border

Jordon Levinson, 23, is an essayist, poet, bilingual translator, and a college dropout. He is also an anarchist. Border? What a bore! I don't believe in 'em. Borders can only delimit the extent of the imagined and mythical power that a government claims to have. I think the border needs to be destroyed. It's gonna have to go in conjunction with governments of all kinds, they all gotta go. As long you got governments you gotta have borders because government can only extend for so long, so far. They might as well claim to own the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean and the air. It's pretty absurd, really. With all this corporate globalization going on, the borders are getting a lot looser for corporations and a lot tighter for individuals. I think that when people die crossing the border, it's murder. Since the U.S. government and the American corporations screw the world, it makes perfect sense that the people of those other countries would rather be a part of the country that's doing the screwing instead of the country that's being screwed. When people come up from the south and run across the border into America, they're not just crossing a line imposed by government. They're crossing a class division line where America is on the top in the so-called class structure. The class structure only exists in myth, just as much as the border. But these myths are held aloft by guns. I've walked across 15 borders without showing any identification. I personally think of that as an act of resistance and a refusal to submit to the logic of borders, and the logic of the state, which is that everybody be kept track of all the time and be processed through the computers and filing cabinets. It cannot be reformed, it's gotta be destroyed. They're trying to stop something that no one can stop. They're wasting their time. There's gonna be a great flood from the south. You're gonna have to start eating more tacos. Arturo and Raúl: Open the Border

Thousands of undocumented Mexicans cross the border illegally every year. In Tucson, they find jobs. The following interviews were conducted in Spanish at Casa Maria, a temporary shelter and dining hall that provides support to the homeless and others in need. Arturo, 30, Mexico City I arrived in Nogales, Sonora. After a week I met a man who, thank God, knew how to cross. I crossed through the desert, three men and one woman. It was very hard, very difficult. I suffered a lot because during that time the weather was really cold and it was raining. Thank God I arrived here. Now I have a place where I can sleep, thanks to that man, who didn't charge me anything. I've worked for two days already. One day in people's yards, another day painting. The same man helped me find work. The majority of us Mexicans are good. We're good workers. It's not easy for us to leave our family, leave our country to come to another. I think that if immigration let us cross we could be two united countries. It's really difficult, very dangerous. People die. I would like for them to make it easier for us to cross. But that's the way it is. It can't fix itself. Raul Gomez Valencia, 36, Cancun, Quintana Roo It's the third time I've come here. I arrived yesterday. I've been an orphan since I was 6 years old. I don't have anyone, only God. I'm a worker. I'm not a thief. I crossed in Nogales, eight hours walking. Myself and two others. I work in whatever I can, as a gardener, in construction. Before, we had more commerce in Mexico. Now it's not from Mexico, it's from China or the United States. Before we had oil in Mexico, but now it's not from Mexico. Lots of things have happened. We are importing everything. Why? What has to change are the presidents. Because if the presidents don't change, the nations can't ever change. The presidents make the decisions.