On Sunday May 20, twenty-six men and teenage boys began to
cross the desert from Mexico into Arizona. Five days later,
fourteen of them were dead from exposure.
According to reports, smugglers misled the men into
thinking the crossing would be short and water would be
available. Instead, they had to walk more than 50 miles in
115 degree heat with no water.
"Have you ever seen a mummy from ancient Egypt? That gives
you an idea," said a doctor who treated survivors. "They
looked shriveled up." Some of the survivors will likely
suffer lifelong kidney problems.
More and more people have tried to cross into the united
$tates via the southwestern Arizona desert since "Operation
Gatekeeper" shut down crossings in California and Texas.(1)
Over 500 people have died crossing the border -- most of
exposure -- since "Gatekeeper" started in 1994. From
October 1999 to September 2000, 106 people died in Arizona
alone.(2)
"Nobody should be surprised by these deaths," said Claudia
Smith with the California Rural Legal Assistance
Foundation, who has campaigned against Gatekeeper. "They
are entirely foreseeable consequences of moving the migrant
traffic out of the urban areas and into the most remote and
dangerous areas."(3)
The huge economic disparities between the united $tates and
oppressed nations around the world -- and the fact that
many employers here depend on relatively cheap,
undocumented labor -- drive workers to risk their lives to
cross into the united $tates.
In fact, the border is a tool to keep the vast majority of
workers in a situation of most brutal exploitation --
outside of u.$. borders, under Amerikan-supported death-
squad governments. Even those undocumented immigrants who
do manage to get into the united $tates face brutal
exploitation in sweatshops; their undocumented status is
used to keep their wages low.
MIM is not alone in its belief that workers and their
families should not have to risk their lives to look for
work here in the united $tates. That is why we launched a
petition campaign to stop "Operation Gatekeeper" and open
the u.$. border. We encourage readers to go to
www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/cal/OpenBorder.htm or write to
MIM to endorse the petition or start collecting signatures
themselves.
Here is the text of MIM's petition:
Open the U.S. border!
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's military-
style "Operation Gatekeeper" has killed over 600 Mexican
migrants. This is part of the systematic violence the U.S.
government uses to restrict people's free movement.
The U.S. Border separates families, communities, and
nations. It also keeps Third World workers and farmers
under regimes where wage rates are drastically depressed
through violent repression -- this allows the United States
to make huge profits off of its investments abroad.
We the undersigned call for an end to "Operation
Gatekeeper" and an end to policies restricting people's
free movement across the border.
Notes:
1. MIM Notes 233, 1 May 2001
2. Associated Press, 24 May 2001.
3. Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2001.
