STOP  VIGILANTE  MURDERS  OF  IMMIGRANTS  AT  THE  U.S./  MEXICO  BORDER!
IF  YOU  ARE  A  COMMUNITY,  LABOR,  RELIGIOUS,  OR  POLITICAL  LEADER,  PLEASE  ENDORSE--OR  HAVE  YOUR  GROUP  ENDORSE--THIS  URGENT  STATEMENT  TODAY!
11/27/02  Action  Alert  to  CPC  Members  and  Allies
 
At a recent national meeting, CPC members and staff met an organizer from Derechos Humanos/ Alianza Indigena, a Tucson, Arizona-based group that works for immigrant rights and ending the right-wing vigilante hate violence against immigrants coming to the U.S.  Derechos Humanos/ Alianza Indigena has asked groups throughout the nation to sign on to this Statement of Solidarity in order to increase protection for immigrants in the wake of recent shootings and executions along the U.S./ Mexico border.  To endorse, see the bottom of the letter and reply to CPC via this email or contact Derechos directly.  Please forward today to others you think would be interested as well.  Thank you for your support. 

Statement of Solidarity Against Vigilante Violence Against Immigrants on the U.S./ Mexico Border. 11/27/02  Action  Alert  to  CPC  Members  and  Allies

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are shocked and dismayed at the continued presence of hate groups and vigilante behavior in our communities, and are concerned that our elected officials have done nothing to stop such terrorist activity.  The growing boldness and obvious malice in these actions are disturbing to community members, who fear where these unchecked acts of violence will lead us.

The actions of these organizations crystallize the increasing hostile and violent atmosphere created by our failed U.S. border policies.  Such an environment produces a climate of hate and violence against our neighbors along the U.S.-México Border and against undocumented immigrants, the innocent victims of a system that continues to exploit them.  We have, and will continue to witness hatred motivated actions until the underlying problems of racism and xenophobia are addressed.

* The American Patrol, Ranch Rescue, and the American Border Patrol, groups that claim to be Dedicated to defending and preserving the private property rights of individual Citizens, do so by carrying high power weapons, patrolling public lands, holding individuals at gunpoint, and making false accusations against organizations that work for the dignity and human rights of immigrants.

* November 1, 2002, a group of immigrants are fired upon by masked attackers while standing in the desert about 20 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona.  Of the 14 border crossers, only nine were later found.  (Arizona Daily Star, November 5, 2002)

* Thursday, October 24, 2002, issue of the Tombstone Tumbleweed, a local newspaper, states: Enough is enough! A public call to arms! Citizens Border Patrol Militia now forming!…Bring your experience, ideas and support towards creating a Citizens Patrol of the Arizona/Mexico Border!...This is an organizational meeting. No weapons are necessary at this time… Join together to protect your country in a time of war! (Tombstone Tumbleweed, October 24, 2002)

* Authorities are searching for something more than eight bodies found so far in a killing field west of Phoenix… It's an area where eight bodies have been found since March, their hands tied behind their backs before being shot multiple times with a semiautomatic weapon, deputies said. (Arizona Republic, October 28, 2002)

* On October 22, 2002, in Red Rock, Arizona, two men wearing camouflage fatigues opened fire on a group of twelve immigrants, killing two.  One escaped to summon help; it is not known what became of the other nine.  (New York Times, October 22, 2002)

* The American Patrol website claims that the Border Mobilization, a peaceful demonstration that took place in four border communities along the U.S.-México Border, "proves that the Pima County Defender Isabel Garcia (Co-chair of Derechos Humanos) is a Mexican agent."  It then goes on to demand her resignation, claiming that she is a traitor to this country, sent here by México to reclaim these lands, Aztlan, for México.

* On the morning of May 12, 2000, two Arizona ranchers on horseback and armed with high power hunting rifles shot and critically wounded and undocumented Mexican worker attempting to cross the border near Sasabe, Arizona.  Four other young men accompanying 20 year old Miguel Angel Palofox Aguirrin of Guasave, Sinaloa were also shot at by the vigilantes.  (Revolutionary worker #1058, June 11, 2000)

* In May of 2001, the Justice Department notifies Isabel Garcia that her image is once again on the American Patrol's website, mentioning an upcoming vigil to remember 14 migrants who died in the desert.  According to the Justice Department, the website had a schematic of the vigil location, with a little cross supposedly indicating where Garcia would be standing.

* Glenn Spencer and Arizona rancher Roger Barnett sent out invitations in May of 2000 to anti-immigrant groups across the USA to come down to Arizona for some "Fun in the Sun" and hunt down Mexicans crossing the border.

* In an interview, Barnett told USA Today Magazine: "A vigilante goes out, rounds up people, holds a trial and executes them," he says. I haven't done that yet. But bloodshed could happen." (USA Today, July 21, 1999)

The U.S. Federal Definition of "hate crime" is crime that is motivated by the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person. (USC Title 28 Sec 994)

The Department of Justice illuminates the government's view of hate crimes:  "Hate crime is the violence of intolerance and bigotry, intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious, sexual orientation, or disability. The purveyors of hate use explosives, arson, weapons, vandalism, physical violence, and verbal threats of violence to instill fear in their victims, leaving them vulnerable to more attacks and feeling alienated, helpless, suspicious and fearful. Others may become frustrated and angry if they believe the local government and other groups in the community will not protect them. When perpetrators of hate are not prosecuted as criminals and their acts not publicly condemned, their crimes can weaken even those communities with the healthiest race relations."

We, together with other human/civil rights and social justice groups, demand immediate and effective action against any group or organization which violates the hate crime statutes of our country.  We will not tolerate hate motivated activity which infringes upon the integrity and basic human rights of all peoples of all nations.   Nowhere in this country, outside of the border regions, would armed citizens with obvious hate-filled agendas be permitted to patrol public lands, while officials stand by and do nothing.

As people of conscience, we demand that our government officials be accountable for their lack of enforcement of the federal and state criminal statutes, particularly hate crime statutes.  We call for the immediate dismantling of these terrorist organizations and an immediate halt to the murders, the continued gross violations of human rights and civil liberties, the complete contempt for the principles of dignity, justice, and equality that uphold human and civil rights of all people crossing and living along the U.S.-México Border region.