THE BORDER WAR

According to US Arizona Border Patrol, illegal crossings from Mexico into the US have dropped dramatically since President Joe Biden’s June 4, 2024 executive order barring migrants who enter illegally from claiming asylum. He has expanded wall construction and closed gaps making crossings more difficult. The Arizona border constitutes one of the most isolated and dangerous of the border’s nine geographic sectors. The Tuscon segment is a 262 mile stretch of steel/cement, electronic surveillance cameras and linear ground detection systems. Of the 200 tunnels that go beneath the wall nationwide, half are in the Nogales region of Arizona.

Migrants from China, Mexico, India, Central America and the countries of Africa flee gang violence, war, persecution, economic collapse and global warming. Drug cartels who charge exorbitant fees to assist in their transport through a chain of human smugglers, have divided up the frontier claiming stretches won by violent border wars. Migrants often suffer extortion, rape, and being abandoned in the desert while US presidential candidates from both parties cater to a public sentiment for “stronger security” fueled by the right-wing rhetoric of “being overrun”.

According to Migration Data Portal, the border between Mexico and the United States is the second deadliest land crossing in the world. Once in the US, migrants are also subject to the intimidation of militia groups who “tour” the region to terrorize asylum seekers and intimidate Samaritans who assist them with food, water and shelter.

Larry Towell spent a week accompanying the Tuscon Samartitans and US Border Patrol. He was denied access to the local paramilitary group “Tuscon Border Recon” who poison water supplies and steal food left by Samaritans. Their spokesperson, Tim Foley of Arivaca, Arizona, believes humanitarian groups should be fined. Other far-right vigilante organizations that patrol the border include: QAnon, The Minutemen, and Proud Boys among others.

-Larry Towell, 2024