A rally to celebrate the release of the new book was held at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Tucson. Then a fired up group headed to Customs and Border Protection Headquarters to hold a demonstration in hopes of giving their cause some validity and gain some attention.  They got neither.

Arriving at BP Headquarters one could only chuckle at the circus like procession with actors dressed in costumes. Led by the famous instigator, John Fife, of course today he was the Reverend John Fife, dressed in his black shirt and white collar. Then came the “Professionals”  lady attorneys in their suites, hippies, volunteers in earth clothing, activists in all their glory, doctors and nurses in scrubs and lab coats complete with stethoscopes around their necks and followed by minstrels playing guitars and singing, but there were no jugglers just a gaggle of amateur photographers and videographers recording the debacle.

Border Patrol gates where closed to the dismay of the procession.  Heads where hung, signs and posters were rolled up, camera crews packed it in, and the activist left in a very anticlimactic exit. What ever their grand plans were, they never came to fruition.

Of course the liberal bloggers have claimed it a great success and major media this time of year is always looking for a filler.

Excerpt from Living on the Border Documentary series 

With decades of experience dating back to the Sanctuary movement,  No More Deaths and the Samaritan’s leaders who are no strangers to organizing anti government tactics. They began their new agenda by first creating a cloud of false government persecution in which to operate under. First there is “Abuse Documentation” or stories they have heard or made up that will foster sympathy for their cause and open a can of worms for any government agency that takes to close a look at their activities.

Playing this abuse documentation angle also keeps them very well funded, with large grants from the Unitarian Universalistic Funding Program and tens of thousands of tax free dollars from other churches and non profit activist groups under the disguise of the Social Justice Ministry. The term they like to use for their actions is “Civil Initiative”, nothing more than a gentle  for euphemism for revolutionary or anarchist.  To give this trump card an air of validity, they even published a book in September of 2008, “Crossing the Line” with over 100 pages of the most horrendous accusations, in the form of written accounts and affidavits, based solely on hearsay, against U.S. Border Patrol Agents working in the field and detention facilities that had never been visited. Down load PDF version of the book “Crossing the Line” This hearsay documentation was actually presented at Congressional briefing in Washington D.C., hosted by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.). The U.S Border Patrol says that these allegations are false. Rep. Grialva has long been a supporter of No More Deaths and the Samaritan’s work as well as their cause.

If something works, why not try it again?  So another book is published and a larger smoke screen has been created to operate an illegal smuggling operation.

For more information on the subversive antigovernment history of No More Deaths: When Humanitarian Aid Really Does Become a Crime

The drug business in Mexico is booming but so is the jobless rate.  Desperation is gripping this country as organized crime takes over government enterprises. There is an army of street thugs stealing every thing and any thing to survive and hyaenas crimes are rampant. Violence has spilled over, exploiting illegal immigration, people smuggling and armed robberies of drug shipments on the US side and it is not just limited to the border areas any more, but at destination points through out our country.

At the top, cartels are expanding into large scale theft of Mexico’s natural resources by strong arming their way into the lumber industry with armed caravans invading timber rich areas with every intention of clear cutting. With money, there comes corruption and the ability to buy technology, so taping into pipelines to steal huge quantities of fuel should be of no surprise. Cutting into the government budget will have a catastrophic affect on the government’s  ability to keep what little control it has over the federal police or the army. The  take over of the cell phone business, one of the only privately owned monopolies in Mexico will be a prize for sure.  Its a dangerous free for all down there, its right next door and incase any one hasn’t noticed, the doors are wide open.

Mexican Gangs Stealing Growing Amounts of Fuel

 

Published June 19, 2011

| The Wall Street Journal

Photo by Karl W Hoffman

Humanitarian Organizations have decided to start their own remembrance on this important day by having a press conference and  launching the official start of “The Migrant Trail” a 75 mile walk to honor illegal immigration and the deaths in the desert as a result of  criminal behavior.  I convey my personal sympathy for those you have lost their lives sneaking into the United States and the broken system that surounds every aspect of the immigration and border security debacle. I have dedicated the past 7 years of my life to raising border awareness through objective presentations, exposing the hidden agendas of  groups capitalizing on the migrant targets and media sensationalism through my documentary “Living on the Border” and my website www.livingontheborder.com. Without debating the immigration issues here because I have chastised all sides at different times, I must say that it breaks my heart to see that we the people of both nations are at the mercy of right wing radicals, left wing activists, politicians, organized crime, humanitarian organizations, hate groups and government greed and we are now  in a place where no compromise is allowed and solutions are all or nothing.

Many of marchers are anti government activists, open border advocates, and bleeding hearts, and the same ones demanding that hispanic studies be taught and their culture respected. I don’t have a problem with that, ones roots are important, but it is a two way street and respect is earned not demanded. Respect this country, it’s laws and history and you just may get respect. Unfortunately the groups listed below don’t feel they have to respect their own county, The United States of America, and there  is where the problem  lies.

The Migrant Trail
Arizona Border Rights Foundation

 

A 75 mile walk from Sásabe, Sonora, MX to Tucson, AZThrough Sonoran Desert Brings Attention to Migrant Deaths

The precarious reality of our borderlands calls us to walk.  We are a spiritually diverse, multi-cultural group who walk together on a journey of peace to remember people, friends and family who have died, others who have crossed, and people who continue to come.  We bear witness to the tragedy of death and of the inhumanity in our midst.  Lastly, we walk as a community, in defiance of the borders that attempt to divide us, committed to working together for the human dignity of all peoples.

Press Conference

Monday, May 30, 2011

10:00 AM

317 W. 23rd Street

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, AZ-    On May 30, 2011, a diverse group of more than sixty individuals will begin a 75 mile walk to call attention to the human rights crisis occurring on the southern border. The eighth annual Migrant Trail: We Walk for Life is a joint endeavor of community groups and individuals from both sides of the border walking in solidarity with migrants to demand an end to the deaths in the desert.

“For the eighth year we stand together in solidarity with migrants and call for an end to the tragic deaths and division of communities along the U.S.-Mexico border,” says Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos.  “Thousands of men, women, and children have died due to border policies that have funneled them into the most hostile and desolate areas of the Sonoran desert.  This must stop.”

Since the 1990s, it is estimated that more than 6,000 men, women and children have lost their lives crossing the U.S./Mexico border.  As the summer approaches, and Arizona begins to experience triple-digit temperatures, the number of migrants encountering medical distress or death increases dramatically.  Many will die the horrible death of dehydration and exposure. These deaths, a direct result of U.S. border and immigration policies, must be prevented.

The Walk will begin Monday, May 30 at 2:00pm in Sásabe, Sonora.  Carpools will depart at 11am from Southside Presbyterian (317 W. 23rd Street).  Participants will arrive on Sunday, June 5th at 11:00am at Kennedy Park, Ramada #3, for a closing ceremony. The Migrant Trail is a non-violent event, and is free and open to the community.  Participants and organizers of the Migrant Trail call on all people of conscience to stand in solidarity with our migrant sisters and brothers.

“The Migrant Trail is an important spiritual witness to the challenging reality of our borderlands today,” says Dan Abbott of University Presbyterian Church in Tempe, Arizona.  “It is a moral imperative that we stand in solidarity with our migrant brothers and sisters, demand humane border policies of our government, and call all people of conscience to take immediate action.”

Sponsors of the Migrant Trail: Coalición de Derechos Humanos, BorderLinks, Casa Maria, JPIC Office of the St. Barbara Province Francsiscans, Shalom Mennonite, Tucson Buddhist Meditation Center, Migrant Workers Solidarity Network (MWSN), Newman Center at UA, Green Valley/Saguarita Samaritans, Church of the Good Shepherd, No More Deaths- Tucson, REA Communications, Restoration Project, Humane Borders, St. John’s Episcopal Church of Mount Pleasant, Shalom House- Philadelphia, Mennonite Central Committee-US, Calpolli Teoxicalli, Coloradans for Immigrant Rights, AFSC Colorado, Principe de Paz Church, Café Justo, University Presbyterian Church, Tucson SOA Watch, No More Deaths- Phoenix, Southside Presbyterian Church, and Tucson Samaritans.

Migrant Trail Bears Witness to Human Rights Crisis:

The Migrant Trail

c/o Arizona Border Rights Foundation
P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702
Tel: 520.770.1373
migrant_trail@yahoo.com

www.derechoshumanosaz.net

Contact: Marisol Flores-Aguirre: 520-622-2190

Derechos Humanos: 520-770-1373

 

On this day we as Americans honor all of the brave men and women who have given the greatest sacrifice  to protect this country and the freedoms of it’s people. Memorial day is a nationally observed day and as a part of our American heritage it should be observed and respected with the deepest of reverence.

Mexican Ranchers must leave their land or be killed by the Cartels. Drug wars are rampant with indiscriminate shootings of innocent people. Kidnaping for ransom is now common place. Whole towns are cut off, looted and held hostage, with its people brutally murdered and dying of starvation.

Photo by Karl W Hoffman

A small town in Mexico bands together with machetes, sticks and a few guns taken from the corrupt police. They are no match for the well armed Cartels who also control the illegal lumber business. Arizona Daily Star These towns people cover their faces and stand defiant behind crude barriers blocking the roads and are determined to fight to the death in order to save their way of life.  The rapidly increasing power of the Cartels who rule by torture and violence is plaguing Mexico and it’s corrupt government. Local police and politicians are either on the take or intimidated by death are quitting or cashing in. The military, bought and paid for in many parts of the country, are used to escort drug shipments.

Covering their faces and taking to the streets, some brave citizens of Nogales Mexico march to demand an end the violence. Sadly the Mexican people wanting change are powerless and are putting their lives and the lives of their families at risk to make  such a bold statement. Nogales International

While our neighbors are crying out for help what are we doing here but arguing about immigration reform, tax dollars, votes and politics.  Sadly the right and left can only see their own agendas.  What are the activists doing to organize and really aid the Mexican people in Mexico where no one has any rights at all?  What are the conservatives doing besides flying the American flag and watching Fox News?

Shocking Photos of Violence along the United States / Mexican Border

Nazi Germany, Mexico, and Cuba, the list goes on and on where the people of a country have been suppressed and made powerless.  Here is a prime example of just how gun control works in favor of a corrupt government and organized crime. Thank God the writers of the US Constitution added the 2nd amendment so we as citizens can protect our selves, our families and our neighbors, who choose not to have firearms. You may think that it will never happen here but what if it did. With all the global fighting and destruction I would like to know that in the worst case, my grandchildren could go to the closet and dig out their grandfathers assault rifle, yes an assault rifle with a high capacity magazine, because that’s what it will take, and defend their town and their family. None of us ever think that the worst will happen but we still buy all kinds of insurance. Nice to have a little back up in the closet because we just can’t see into the future.

The United States Of America has the most liberal firearms laws on this planet and is the freest and the safest, but we have become a nation of bickerers.

Educated adults, college students, and hard workers, there are millions of Mexican people here in the United States who would love nothing more that to return to their country, rebuild and prosper in their own land with their families, but defenseless and with out help, death and destruction are their only rewards. So who will stop the violence?  Maybe recognizing it is the first step to a long overdue solution.

Border trash has gotten out of hand with more than 2000 tons of trash discarded anualy along the 370miles of the Arizona border. Illegal  immigration is directly  responsible for the discard of containers, clothing, vehicles, backpacks, hygiene and medical products,  and human waste not to mention food containers and water jugs, left by the 10s of thousands, on human smuggling trails by humanitarian groups. This trash left behind is creating an adverse impact on vegetation, wildlife,  natural erosion and causing water shed degradation.

In an attempt to draw attention to the trash the State of Arizona has established a website azbordertrash.gov for information and to seek volunteers to participate in cleanup efforts. The web site is funded by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Apprehensions of individuals by the U.S. Border Patrol as a result of illegal immigration vary every year. Current Border Patrol statistics indicate that about 110,000 border crossers will be captured during the current fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, and doesn’t count the many others who get through. The border crossers leave approximately six to eight pounds of trash in the desert during his or her journey. The cost of disposing of this trash is high for local communities. Landfill fees range from $37 to $49 per ton in Southern Arizona. These fees do not include costs for materials, equipment, labor and transportation for the collection and transfer of the trash to the landfill.

Characterizing the Impact

Accumulated border trash has been shown to affect human health, the environment and economic wellbeing. Impacts include:

• Strewn trash and piles
• Illegal trails and paths
• Erosion and watershed degradation
• Damaged infrastructure and property
• Loss of vegetation and wildlife
• Campfires and escaped fires
• Abandoned vehicles and bicycles
• Vandalism, graffiti and site damage (historical and archaeological)
• Occurrence of bio-hazardous waste

Photo By Karl W Hoffman

Activism: is it really a necessity to keeping a country in balance or is it just a frustration to the absence of a real revolution? I am sure there are enough directionless activists here in the United States and in Mexico that would join a good honest rebellion. Speaking of rebellion, it seems that some students have no problem gathering together for demonstrations, laughing in the face of a riot squad or arrogantly defying the status quo. These are all great qualities when applied to a definite direction, for a real cause or maybe a real movement for the freedom and peace of a truly suppressed people.

Photo By Karl W Hoffman

We have educated 100s of thousands of young Mexicans that where brought here illegally and many millions more who came here illegally. Most of them have worked very hard. We have taught them how democracy works and what a better and more prosperous life can be. We taught them our history and how we fought for freedom, equality and how we ousted a tyrannous government and the honor that comes with such an accomplishment. We as a nation have done the best we could to prepare a generation of Mexicans to return to their country with the tools to rebuild a great nation of their own and prepare it for their returning parents who will be very proud of them. Just for a moment can you imagine if this new generation banded together and asked the United States Government, politely, for the funding, the training and the protection to go home to rebuild their country? Would the House and the Senate argue about this? Probably just the politicians and lobbyist connected with drug money.  Besides solving the border and immigration debacle, and reuniting their families, nothing is more profitable than a good war and especially one that gets lots of support or just maybe, even has a good reason.

Cleaning up a country ruled by an upper-class system, corrupt leaders, police and military that are controlled by warring Cartels with a rapidly growing middle eastern terrorist presence should provide plenty of opportunity in constructive areas for humanitarian organizations and excite and motivate the most dedicated activists while weeding out the posers and easy street freeloaders.

Then, with great satisfaction, Mexicans could attend their own universities, teach their own people, enjoy a more balanced and growing economy, be truly proud of their own country and we all could become better neighbors.  This should be their Dream Act.

Of course it does take dedication, hard work and sacrifice to bring the dream of a fee country to fruition, something that people have been doing for their own countries for thousands of years.

Several faith based humanitarian organizations in southern Arizona have joined forces. Their slogan is “Humanitarian Aid is never a Crime”. Funded by churches,

they recruit volunteers who venture into the deserts along the borders of America and Mexico to give life saving aid to illegal border crossers caught in an economical and political cross fire, or so they would like you to think. What is their real agenda? Are they really a subversive anti government cult like group of smugglers using the various churches to fund their illegal operation?

While there are many humanitarian groups and organizations involved in the border arena and doing very positive work both in the field and politically, helping people and raising awareness for immigration reform and change on both sides of the American/Mexican border. I would in no way want to cast a shadow on their work or create a stigmatism for the good they are achieving.

So lets take an in depth look at two particular groups, No More Deaths and the Samaritans. Many of these two organization’s key members go back decades to the earlier Sanctuary Movement of the 1980′s involving El Salvadorian political refugees whom the Regan administration refused to give asylum. They took the law into their own hands, and led by the Reverend John Fife (also involved in the 1960s university anti war demonstrations and riots), the Sanctuary Movement began at the South Side Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona. Its purpose was to smuggle undocumented immigrants from El Salvador in to the United States. Guerrilla fighters, rebels and criminals, who were fleeing to escape execution were included in this literal underground railroad, that smuggled illegal immigrants not just from El Salvador but it gathered immigrants along the way through Central America and Mexico. Then through a network that stretched all the way to Canada, it eventually provided a safe haven to tens of thousands of illegal immigrants and involved over 500 churches and synagogues nationwide.  This movement would create a foothold for illegal immigrant families and provide a destination point for other family members and continue to attract illegal immigrants for another generation.

With out any screening process or controls over who was being smuggled into the United States, just one of the major adverse effects was a large very undesirable element that was relocated to our inner cities and formed the most notorious street gang in the history of our world. The Salvadorian gang MS13 (Mara Salvatrucha 13) is one of the most violently dangerous gangs and one of the most organized. This gang has grown to international proportions, with an estimated number of 70,000-gang members today, in the US alone and is a direct result of the Sanctuary Movement.

Including the arrest of the Reverend John Fife, eight activists where convicted on various federal charges in the 1990′s. Several years ago, the same individuals that were involved in the sanctuary movement resurfaced to form the groups No More Deaths and the Samaritan Patrol later to be called the Samaritans. These groups are now walking a fine line between humanitarian aid, which should not be a crime, and indiscriminate but organized smuggling, which is a crime even if you are a church. Considering the past and the present, it is of no surprise that contemporary government agencies are reluctant to work with groups that have such a subversive past and thrive on illegal activity and anti government agendas.

No More Deaths continues to operate out of the South Side Presbyterian Church in Tucson, but moves it’s meetings regularly to different church locations around Tucson. Day workers continue to gather  daily at the church parking lot, flagging down vehicles in an attempt to find day laboring work but it is becoming increasingly difficult and the risks are running higher.

Controlling the media was very important, so not only did they bring in their own international media teams sympathetic to their cause but they began carefully screening journalists who wanted to cover their work in the field and any that are approved, are assigned special media persons and given a false tour with no interaction with volunteers who have not been briffed or illegal migrants.  They also realized that right wing conservative news won’t criticize faith based humanitarian groups and left wing liberals are supportive of it with out asking to many questions. This puts government officials and politicians in an uneasy spot.  So with decades of experience No More Deaths and the Samaritan’s leaders who were no strangers to organizing anti government tactics, began their new agenda by first creating a cloud of false government persecution in which to operate under. First there is “Abuse Documentation” or stories they have heard or made up that will foster sympathy for their cause and open a can of worms for any government agency that takes to close a look at their activities. Playing this abuse documentation angle also keeps them very well funded, with large grants from the Unitarian Universalistic Funding Program and tens of thousands of tax free dollars from other churches and non profit activist groups under the disguise of the Social Justice Ministry. The term they like to use for their actions is “Civil Initiative”, nothing more than a gentle  for euphemism for revolutionary or anarchist.  To give this trump card an air of validity, they even published a book in

The Book Crossing the Line

September of 2008, “Crossing the Line” with over 100 pages of the most horrendous accusations, in the form of written accounts and affidavits, based solely on hearsay, against U.S. Border Patrol Agents working in the field and detention facilities that had never been visited. Down load PDF version of the book “Crossing the Line” This hearsay documentation was actually presented at Congressional briefing in Washington D.C., hosted by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.). The U.S Border Patrol says that these allegations are false. Rep. Grialva has long been a supporter of No More Deaths and the Samaritan’s work as well as their cause. Now that his campaign is in trouble and the fact that they need his pull, No more deaths has issued an immediate call to action in support his campaign.”We cannot afford to lose his representation in congress” This is not only unethical but should cause their church tax exempt status to be reevaluated.

From: Nancy Myers <nmyers@igc.org>

Subject: Re: [NMD Local] Support Grijalva – His Reelection May Be At Risk!!

Date: October 13, 2010 5:01:31 PM MST

To: Hannah Hafter <hehafter@yahoo.com>, Gene and Sue Lefebvre <coregroup@nomoredeaths.org>

Reply-To: Nancy Myers <nmyers@igc.org>

 

 

Think of Raul as part of a cause or movement, not just a candidate.

Nancy

From: Hannah Hafter

Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 4:38 PM

To: coregroup@nomoredeaths.org

Subject: [NMD Local] Support Grijalva – His Reelection May Be At Risk!!

Hi everyone! This is a message from Brissia Perez, who has been active in No More Deaths in the past and is currently working on Grijalva’s re-election. Scary news, and they need us all! I don’t typically think No More Deaths should be a forum for specific candidates but Raul has done SO MUCH to support our work in particular, I would like to support him back – and we need him here in AZ. From Brissia: Raul’s district is in trouble and it is in trouble because he took a strong stand against 1070 to protect us. Multiple polls are showing him at either 2 point above or below Ruth McClung. We have Raul’s toughest race since 2002 on our hand. We cannot afford to lose his representation in congress. With only 3 weeks left we need all the people that Raul speaks up for to speak up for him–to fight for him. Just stop by our campaign office any day (452 S. Stone ave) and we’ll put you to work. Our immediate need and call to action is for TODAY, wednesday the 13th. Raul is debating Ruth McClung at the pima community college desert vista campus at 4:00pm, but before that, the tea party is having a rally to cheer on our opponent at 3:30. We need a lot of bodies to make noise and show Raul support before his debate and to counter the tea party efforts. We’re meeting there with signs at 3. Thanks everybody!

 

---

 

_______________________________________________
Coregroup mailing list
Coregroup@lists.nomoredeaths.org

In my photojournalistic capacity I have accompanied both the humanitarian organizations and the Border Patrol in the field, I have also toured and photographed these facilities during actual operation, and can honestly say from experience that they are clean, well maintained and not as described by the No More Deaths accusations. Many other accounts will collaborate on these findings.

No More Deaths then developed a very sophisticated system of high tech data collection. Gallon water jugs are put along migrant paths close to the border and marked withtheir own coded GPS coordinates.  Volunteer groups farther north pick up empty water bottles and record the GPS coordinates of where the water

bottles where found, along with the location where they were first set out, this comparative data is all entered into a custom computer-mapping program. There is now a very up to date record of major migrant traffic routes and collaborated with detailed field reports that are turned in at the end of each day by volunteer patrols. This should explain the adamancy for putting out literally tens of thousands of one-gallon water jugs. They claim that they also pick up water old water jugs, a nobel act of trash removal but in actuality they are refilling the ones picked up and putting them out again until they don’t come back. Water jugs are also placed in remote desert locations away from know illegal traffic routs, where advance information would be paramount to the preplanning of illegal activity.

No More Deaths is fully aware that the water they put out along the border region, is not just helping illegal migrants at the mercy of the cartels, but also available to criminals coming here for illicit activities, smugglers and drug runners. Controlling the water on the desert smuggling routs gives these two groups a great deal of power over illegal activity.

Expanding their operation while relying on long established connections throughout Mexico and Central America these groups have now expanded into

Mexico by renting an apartment in Nogales Mexico where key members can stay and work freely on their agendas while providing cell phone service for illegal activity and communication with humanitarian patrols on the U.S. side. NMDs has recently acquired two shelter locations in Nogales Mexico that will provide approximately 25 to 30 beds each and has set up a camp on the Mexico side of the Mariposa port of entry the sleeps 60-80 people.

Continuing their propaganda No More Deaths has developed a recruitment plan to attract student volunteers from around the world and charges them $20 per day, per volunteer, with detailed instructions on applying for school funds.  During college spring breaks as many as 150 students per week, donating $100 each will come to the border completely naive to any hidden agendas. Prior to arrival, students are given suggested reading on politically orientated topics related to the group’s core social ideology and their Social Justice Ministry.  They are then given several days of orientation to the oganizations own philosophies, including legal presentations on their rights in the field and preparations for confrontations with Border Patrol Agents. A field manual is given to them with numbers for 24 hr legal, medical, supervisor’s numbers, and a direct line to the Mexican Consulate. Unfortunately these students begin their border experience with a very biased attitude toward the US Government. Every member in the field carries a legally prepared note to present to any government authority that confronts them. The heading reads “Humanitarian Aid is Never a Crime” and it states as follows:

To whom it may concern:  My name is______, I am a volunteer for the humanitarian organization No More Deaths, I am in the process of providing sealed jugs of water for persons traveling in the arid desert. I am engaged in this activity because I have a right and responsibility to provide humanitarian aid and assistance to those who are in danger of great bodily harm or death due to severe dehydration. Any further questions may be directed to my lawyers: Bill Walker (520-907-1291) Margo Cowan (520-850-0058)

Charging students to stay at camps set up by No More Deaths in the Coronado National Forest in April 2010 requires special permits. Continuing to disregard the law and the honor of this country (while flying the Mexican Flag over their camp), it should be of no surprise that they where under the watchful eye of the US Forest Service.

Continuing to establish a foothold on college campuses, the approach has been to strong-arm universities by digging into the backgrounds and practices of their business clients in an attempt to pressure universities (U of A included) to sever certain financial ties to corporations that do not have a code of conduct and standards consistent with No More Deaths alleged domestic and international labor and human rights standards. Pressure has also been directed toward university staff through the formation of various subversive student groups including, UA La Raza Studies’ Social Justice Education Project.

In 2008 NMD’s backed an effort by the UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) to unionize a chain of Food City grocery stores here in Tucson. Their particular interest was to protect illegal workers who where being let go when found out. I shop at Food City along with other multi cultural families because of the low prices there. Food City, Bashas (a huge contributor to local food banks) and AJ’s have created a unique business plan where they can serve very diverse economic communities by offering price and quality levels that give food shopping opportunities to a boarder section of families in our area while reducing waste, compared to the all union food markets with high overhead and proportionate high prices with larger amounts of waste. Food City has even provided the public with a choice of two web sites, English or Spanish. Undermining their contributions and upsetting this plan affects the economic balance of many communities for no other purpose than selfishness, greed and hidden political agendas. I must ask how this can be considered a humanitarian act? A legal battle that Food City eventually won, cost them millions of dollars, forcing them to raise the price of all their products across the board, but no union representative etc, is allowed on the property for 5 years. NMDs, with no concern for consumer costs, are now organizing a boycott of Food City Markets.

Along with their own legal team, and branching off into Europe and the middle east, No More Deaths and the Samaritans are gaining power at an alarming rate by forming cozy alliances and collaborating with, politicians, and government officials. Recently a special investigator began to look into the actions of  No More Deaths and the Samaritans and was immediately transferred.  Other influential organizations such as the Sierra Club ,with their 1.3 million members, has provided information on NMDs with space on their website, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants  with No More Deaths members masquerading as official human rights observers.  A special link on NMDs website is provided for in depth alleged abuse documentation against United States Government agencies and employees but no verification from the submitter is required. In reality it merely becomes undocumented accusatory statements but to this group and its followers it becomes a cult like reality. This may seem harsh and in no way excuses the horrific reality of death in the desert, but let us keep in mind a very important fact, crimes in the desert arena on United States land such as rape, robbery and murder as well as those left behind to perish in the desert with out water, are committed by the victims own countrymen from Mexico, who they have either brought with them for hire or are here to profit off the actions of their illegal immigration actions.

Choosing Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge as their battleground for breaking the law under their own rationalization with the taxpayers footing the bill is justanother instance of their disregard for for the American system of government.  Based on the information above, these anti government groups should not be allowed to put water in any form in the Sornan Desert as the act is in reality not humanitarian aid but by all rights it may be considered treason. Considering the steadily escalating violence in Mexico that is spilling across the border, illegal migrants, who are now being guided by coyotes working for the cartels, smugglers and drug runners, criminals traversing the border to commit crimes in our communities, are all using the water and poses a serious risk to the citizens of the United States as well as a danger to people using the border lands for legal purposes, and creating stress on the wildlife and more litter on the land. The groups, known as No More Deaths and The Samaritans, have expanded their illegal operation into Mexico and increased their cross border communication through a network of cell phones, making them a threat to US security. Humanitarian groups and activist organizations should be doing all they can to discourage illegal immigration which will save migrant lives, so protective legislation can be passed to help families already here while implementing a guest worker plan.  The long-term effects of leaving water bottles and food is causing a false hope of making it across the desert and has contributed to the catastrophic rise in migrant deaths, this does more to harm chances for a comprehensive immigration reform which should be the major objective.

In these times of continuing threats of terrorist attracts, a neighboring country with a collapsing government ridden with drug violence and murder that is dangerously close to being run by war lords, the US government and the American people must stand ever vigilant to protect it’s self from subversive anti government groups.

We are in a new era where radical religious organizations are gaining political power and all to turning to different forms of  terrorism to make their messages heard, while trying to control governments.

Is this a more powerful and better organized sanctuary movement and a serious threat to national security?

Is the very survival of this country at stake?

Is there a point when Humanitarian Aid really does becomes a crime?

Karl W Hoffman

Documentary Film Producer

I began my coverage of the American Mexican Border almost 6 years ago as a freelance photojournalist and it grew into multimedia production. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Since I don’t type very well and will never claim to be a great writer, photography was my tool to record the horror and beauty of life on this planet. Time doesn’t stand still, changing and adapting is part of personal growth. I have found new truths that I hope will enlighten my fellow humans, so I am proud to join the Tucson Citizen’s blogging team as an independent media contributor. I sincerely look forward to bringing the truth about life on the border to you all and promise to investigate the issues as objectively as possible, even when the truth is unpopular. I do believe that instead of sensationalizing the facts to arouse emotion, it is more important to philosophize a bit to encourage thoughtful debate.

I have had a successful and rewarding life as an artist and several diverse occupations so giving something back is not only my duty but also my pleasure. My documentary film, photography and now my blog, are my gift to future generations so they will know what happened here on the border at the turn of this century and hopefully they will learn by our mistakes rather than follow our example.

How we as a society progressed though the governmental/humanitarian/mafia/hate group maze of the border debacle with only the sensationalism of a hungry media and few manipulative groups is a horrendous injustice, not only to the American and the Mexican people, but to global cultures inspired by the dreams of a democracy that we as a nation have portrayed to the world.

The walls we have put up in our minds and in our hearts are the strongest of all, but the easiest to break down if we want to.

I have watched with horror as the border and immigration debacle deteriorates to a hostile arena with only two sides, digging in and throwing rocks at each other. I have been asked many times to chose a side, but I will remain in the middle and get rocks thrown from both sides if that what it takes to report the truth and educate those who can still peruse solutions through understanding and compromise.

Karl W. Hoffman

Please feel free to contact me in regards to discussion groups, showings of my documentary, border photography exhibits, lectures, border information, promotional photos, interviews and extreme border tours at: kwhphoto@gmail.com
Or visit my website www.livingontheborder.com

Living on Border( 95min) was 5 years in the making and totally self-funded by selling our home and moving to the American, Mexican border. This feature length documentary (95min) is a real eye opener. The majority of local and national media is just not interested in the truth, so completely uninhibited, I took on the task, of unraveling the vast intricacies and experiencing the emotion and brutality of the border debacle firsthand. I waded in after the media had left with segments for salable stories to root out the many unknown facts and hidden agendas of both the major and minor players, not to mention the endless hours alone on hose back, foot and 4×4, in the air and on raids with Border Patrol, as well as in the field with humanitarian groups. Covering both sides of the border and interacting with the local environment has given me a very unique and different view of the intense collateral damage of the tightening of border security that allowed me to connect the dots.

My film is not just a documentary about the plight of the illegal migrant but it is a mirror for all humanity, to show just how we humans continually act. No matter where in the world it occurs, or in the time line of history one goes, the formula seams to be the same.

View trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_Y4AFuS5rk

The Indypendent, New York, 
”Karl W. Hoffman has captured the raw moments along the Arizona-Mexico border that challenge the human tendency to draw invisible 
lines through the landscape and people’s lives. His work is of international significance, from the Sonoran Desert to New York City.” Jessica Lee
Yale University Press, London, 
”Living on the Border is a fascinating physical, social and psychological state”. 
Robert Baldock, Editor & Managing Director

Photographer’s Forum Magazine, 
Award for Excellence in Photojournalism is granted to Karl W. Hoffman for his photograph of the “Beggar Boy” from the documentary “Living on the Border”

US News and World Report, 
“your photos are awesome” Stephen Rountree Graphics Director, Published in the June 25th 2007 issue

Nina Rehfeld, www.txture.com freelance writer for; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Financial Times Germany, Spiegel Online, etc. “ Karl W Hoffman’s work is a wonderful example of grassroots-journalism. Fully engaged but without an agenda, Hoffman wields his lens with a keen eye for common sense – or its absence – and a big heart that focuses entirely on the human story playing itself out on the border.”

BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS, London, Honors fine art photographer, Karl W. Hoffman for outstanding achievements in photojournalism, January 3, 2007

Tucson Weekly “As an eyewitness to the continuing tragedies, Hoffman brings his camera to the most dangerous areas along the border.” Margaret Regan

San Diego City Beat, “From dramatic black and whites of tired migrants rubbing their feet to beautiful depictions of determined young Mexicans, the show is both aesthetically pleasing and educational”. Kinsee Morlan

University of Arizona Borderbeat, “Unlike most journalists who tread out to the border to report, Karl W. Hoffman is fully involved in pursuing the truth of the whole story, living and working amongst the chaos.” Samantha Luvisi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhhQkNVotIg

Presbyterians Today Magazine, “Karl’s beautiful and gritty images capture the many emotions experienced along the border: anguish, despair, struggle, and… hope. His work, by allowing us to glimpse into these lives, brings us closer to understanding and compassion for their plight.” Graphics Director, Shellee Marie Layman

New York Community Media Alliance Winners, 2008 Ippies, Journalism Awards
Best Photo Essay category

Living on the Border Poster