Interesting enough, a known fact in the film business, is that objective documentaries don’t go to far.  Without courting one side or the other while riling  up the opposite  view, a good objective presentation just doesn’t get the attention here as it does internationally. I guess the American public is so used to being entertained, that major media just has to sensationalize story segments slanted toward the particular viewpoint of their viewers. No thought process is required with this agenda so compassion fades and the gap widens.

I am honored to be a guest speaker and take part in this international exchange of ideas. It is very important to present an objective insight to the border and immigration debacle from here in Southern Arizona.  I look forward to bringing new ideas and possibilities back and opening new discussions here at my TC blog.

“Living on the Border” documentary series and blog is back after a long winters rest. Actually I had to stop for a while and make a real living in fine art. (www.karlwhoffman.com)

Originally I told my wife that I wanted to take 5 years off to document the happenings here on the border and produce the documentary “Living on the Border”. This project is my gift to future generations. However, I was informed last fall that it had been 6 years. I do owe a special thanks to my wife Audrey for all her support and understanding of the importance of this project so as of now she is my official assistant and will have to accompany me to Paris.

Starting with a solo exhibit of my border photography at the Tubac Center of the Arts the beginning of the documentary was born.  Six years later, thousands of hours in the field, post production editing,  and freelancing for major publications (internationally) the  film premiered at the loft cinema to a packed house.

Thanks to all the wonderful people, organizations, and government agencies, who have showed such great support and encouragement for the “Living on the Border” documentary series.

Activist Alison Bane (Miller) McLeod DOB 1963, photo from the video " Border Patrol in The Bushes"

Bisbee anti government activist, Alison Bane McLeod lives at 939 E Border Rd AZ (520-432-1476), a few miles east of Bisbee where she confronted Customs and Border Patrol Agents from the Horse Patrol in the process of apprehending illegal border crossers.  Holding a video camera McLeod approached the agents and was asked courteously, not to video their faces (this is on the film.) McLeod ignored their request, got closer with her video camera and began verbally heckling them and then asking questions.  She was repeatedly asked to stand aside and not film their faces or the face of the man in custody but simply ignored their requests.  One of the CPB agents then explained to her that they were not authorized to answer her questions and gave her the number at CBP headquarters where she could contact a public relations officer.  This is standard procedure for just about every agency from police to fire departments and many corporate entities.

McLeod took detailed video of the CPB Agents after being asked repeatedly not to video their faces, then irresponsibly posted a very derogatory video showing the CBP Agents faces on YouTube. YouTube removed the video.  The border in that area has become a very dangerous sector and it is definitely a reasonable request for CBP Agents to want to protect their anonymity and respect the identity of the man in custody.

McLeod states she has the right to video government officials in public but these men where government workers doing an assigned job. Professional multimedia reporters have the courtesy and respect for agents safety, and blur direct face shots if the video is of course not accusatory but still news worthy.    This video was neither, but if anything should prevail in the video, it would be how the CBP Agents handled the situation with a great deal of patients and professionalism in dealing with McLeod and the respect showed for the individual in custody.

This shoddy video is merely another piece in the No More Deaths campaign (Culture of Cruelty) to systematically assault  US Customs and Border Protection. McLeod was immediately  defended by the ACLU. Of course  McLeod did not include any personal information of her own in the video. McLeod’s information in this article came form public web search.

An interesting note is that McLeod had no concern for any rights but her own when she even used copyrighted music of the popular James Bond Series as the soundtrack for her video which the ACLU posted on their website with total disregard for copy right protection laws, the safety of CPB Agents or the rights of the man in custody.

ACLU Says Bisbee Activist Has First Amendment Right to Post Border Patrol Video on YouTube     

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, September 30, 2011

CONTACT:

Alessandra Soler Meetze, ACLU of Arizona, (602) 773-6006 (office) or 602-301-3705

PHOENIX – In a letter sent Thursday to YouTube administrators, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona criticized the online company for censoring a video of United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents arresting a man with a bloody nose.

The 5-minute video, dubbed “Border Patrol in the Bushes,” was taken by Bisbee activist Alison McLeod, who pulled out her video camera and started filming Border Patrol agents arresting an individual after she heard helicopters and saw several agents, on horseback and on foot, on her property on August 31^st.  The video shows four CBP agents walking an individual in handcuffs through her property to a white CBP truck parked on a public road. McLeod posted it on YouTube on September 2^nd where it received “hundreds” of views within hours. Ten days after the video was posted, YouTube officials took it down, citing privacy complaints by CBP agents.

“This is yet another example of a private online community trampling on our First Amendment rights and trying to exercise greater control over what we share and watch online,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. “People have the right to film government officials carrying out their duties in public places. By censoring this type of protected speech, YouTube officials not only violated their own guidelines, but they’ve managed to silence debate around U.S. immigration practices along the U.S.-Mexico border.”

According to YouTube, three complaints about the video were filed; two of them were posted by CBP agents. Within hours of the YouTube posting, a CBP supervisor showed up unannounced at McLeod’s doorstep, telling her 19-year-old daughter who was home at the time that he was inquiring about the YouTube video. The agent then offered to give McLeod and her daughter a tour of the Border Patrol facilities and the local search area.

“This is the reality of border enforcement for those of us living on the border,” said McLeod, who has been living on the border since 1997. “Rather than trying to intimidate residents like me who are simply trying to make CBP more accountable to the public, they should respect the rights of all people living on the border.”

The ACLU sent a separate letter to the CBP’s Tucson Field Office, arguing their involvement in trying to remove the video constitutes “severe government interference with McLeod’s constitutional rights.”

“Customs and Border Protection is now the nation’s largest federal law enforcement agency and it operates with total impunity, accountable to no one and with little government oversight,” added Meetze. “This video and CBP’s response to it underscores the need for greater transparency.”

Although YouTube has privacy guidelines that allow them to remove content where an individual is “uniquely identifiable,” the ACLU argues in its letter to both YouTube and CBP that public officials have no reasonable expectation of privacy while exercising their official duties in public places. The ACLU letter also points out that “nothing distinguishes McLeod’s videos from the hundreds of videos already on YouTube demonstrating various law enforcement activities.”

“YouTube boasts that it is the biggest news platform in the world,” wrote ACLU of Arizona Legal Director Dan Pochoda in his three-page letter to YouTube. “One of the goals of a free press is to hold government officials accountable for their actions. Granting law enforcement a de facto veto over materials they find objectionable or unflattering would violate and jeopardize that mission.”

The letter to YouTube asks the company to allow McLeod to repost her video and any future videos of government officials performing their duties. The ACLU also is asking CBP to stop interfering with McLeod’s efforts to videotape and photograph CBP activities on her own property or public land, and to rescind its complaints seeking the removal of the video from YouTube.

Click here to read the letter to YouTube.

Click here to read the letter to CBP’s Tucson Field Office.

 

A remake of the video titled Border Patrol in the Bushes Dos has been posted again on YouTube.

Update:  Alison McLeod now tries to silence this blog 

Young man at the border fence attempting to return to his family. Photo by Karl W Hoffman

The Obama administration has already deported more than 1 MILLION people.

So I went to the border, not just a border crossing but the border between America and Mexico deep in the Sonoran Desert to personally ask an illegal border crosser, why?

The answer I got;  This young man said he had been working in a restaurant in Illinois. He has been in the US for over 15 years, originally coming across as a child with his parents. Juan (not his real name) has a wife and children he is supporting. He was stopped for a tail light out and arrested for being in this country illegally. Juan spent the next few months in a detention facility and then was transported to Arizona and deported at Nogales.  His entire family had to contribute to raising the $2,000 it would take to pay for the Coyote to get him back into the US plus travel expenses.

Separate the issues of drugs and criminal actions, forget your party or your stand on border security and immigration and lets look at this from a purely logical and objective viewpoint.  Lets forget that Juan is here illegally and how and why he got or came here and whither or not he should be here. It is a case of human nature and the bonds we adhere to.  Just the fact that a man or women is separated from his or her family and transported several thousand miles away in another country does not mean he or she will not return to his or her family.  This is who we are as people! Holocaust victims have spent their entire lives searching for their lost loved ones. Every one of us would do the same thing.

Taxpayers are going to pay for a public defender and the prosecution, plus the court costs, inflated incarceration fees, transportation and deportation, then of course for the family to go on welfare. The icing on this cake is that the Cartels laugh all the way to the bank with the family’s savings. So is deportation a great idea?

Even if one has no compassion for families being torn apart or the immense financial burden on U.S taxpayers, how hard is it to see some simple solutions that even a politician could understand?  Secure the Border by any and all means, and then repair the country through comprehensive immigration reform by whatever the citizens of the U.S deem to be fair and compassionate. I do have great faith in the humanitarian and civil rights directions that our country eventually takes but immigration reform will not happen over night.

There should be plenty of fodder for liberals, humanitarians and open border activist to keep them busy away from the border, anti government types can sign up for voluntary deportation, the Sierra Club has enough to do in their own back yard, and No More Deaths can concentrate on their Middle East projects, conservatives can quit worrying about the foreign invasion and the high cost of ammo, and the minutemen can go home and drink beer knowing they helped defend our country.  Did I leave anyone out? Oh yea, Russell Pierce and Raul Grijalva can please just fade away and empty the prison space can be used for a new reality show “Break Out.”

Karl W Hoffman

Documentary Film Producer

Freelance Photojournalist

Multimedia Reporter

Reporting from the field not the desk

For information on photography exhibits and prints, lectures, interviews, photo usage, border tours and to order the documentary on DVD and view Living on the Border documentary trailer please visit: www.skullcreekmedia.com

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

The 1900 mile border between America and Mexico stretches throughout four states, where border security and illegal immigration issues poses much of the same dynamics.  The main difference is that the demography of southern Arizona is mostly retirement communities that only started to thrive after WWII when air conditioning was invented.  New Mexico, Texas and California have had centuries on multicultural intertwining and have an understanding of the difference between the working hispanic community, the migrant workforce, illegal immigration and drug smuggling, all quite separate entities. Arizona has become a magnet for attracting liberal activists, so called humanitarians, the Sierra Club, incompetent  politicians on both sides, sensationalizing media, and dime store novelists, the list goes on. The common ground is that those who come  here to Arizona have no concept about the true nature of the border dynamics, they only focus of their own particular agendas, and are blind to the big picture. Lumping all of the complex issues of the border and immigration debacle into one bag and labeling it raciest, is ludicrous and makes solutions impossible.  Subversive left wing anti government activists seem to enjoy tying the hands of law enforcement and government agencies with out any grasp or concern as to the collateral damage they may cause and fuzzing up the right wing conservatives is just icing on the cake. Are we getting anywhere? No

The border has become a dangerous place, this must be accepted. In Texas where the US Border Patrol works together with law enforcement agencies things are handled quite different.  Calling in an elite law enforcement agency familiar with the border arena, such as the Texas Rangers, to help fight the drug trade and control border violence while protecting all ethnicities is not racist.

photo by Karl W Hoffman

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.

BP chasing Drug runners north of Nogales, Photo by Karl W Hoffman

A suspected drug smuggler, commonly called a” mule”  along with other smugglers in his group bring illegal drugs into the US, was reportedly ambushed Sunday by armed bandits. In a remote area west of I19 and 20 miles north of the border  near Aliso Springs Canyon. According to statements from one of the survivors made to Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Department, One of the smugglers tried to run but was gunned down. Then the  bandits forced the survivors to burry the murdered mans body at gunpoint in exchange for their lives. According to Sheriff Estrada one of the alleged smugglers-turned-murder witness found a No More Deaths camp. One of many a so called humanitarian aid camps scattered through out the border region that aids illegal border crossers and criminal activate.

Several volunteers went to call 911 from an area that had cell service.

Santa Cruz Sheriff’s deputies along with Border Patrol Agents and searching the area for the body.

Updates Coming soon

Drug storage room, Nogales CBP Station, Photo by Karl W Hoffman

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

The Border and immigration crisis is one of the toughest internal struggles that contemporary America is facing. It is not only testing our core values as a country but it is deeply affecting economic and social structure of two neighboring countries. How we as a society are progressing though the governmental/humanitarian/mafia/hate group maze of the immigration and 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 global cultures inspired by the dreams of a democracy that we as a nation have portrayed to the world. If times are not confusing enough, we must now deal with cheep shot exploitive TV shows.  This is real life down here and Arizona is doing it’s best to sort through an ugly situation that the government has turned it’s back on and the majority of  America is kept in the dark to.  ABC and John Quinones and the restaurant, that has allowed this repulsive show on their property, has not only taken advantage  of an unfortunate situation with a disgusting display of exploitation, but they have slapped the face and insulted the integrity of all people. Shame on You!!!

TV’s ‘What Would You Do?’ tackles SB 1070 here

Brady McCombs Arizona Daily Star

“What Would You Do?” will be the second national TV appearance for BK Carne Asada and Hot Dogs in less than a year. In April, the restaurant was featured on the Travel Channel show “Food Wars,” in a competition to see whether BK’s or Guero Canelo made better Sonoran hot dogs.

When a man dressed like a security guard demanded “papers” from two Hispanic patrons at a local Mexican restaurant recently, Andrea Morken stood up.

“Excuse me. I don’t think you can do that,” Morken said loudly enough for the rest of the diners at BK Carne Asada and Hot Dogs to hear.

The Anglo guard struck an aggressive pose and repeated his demand.

“Actually you can’t do that and that’s not going to happen right now, right here, today,” said Morken, who owns a day spa in Tucson. “So you just need to get on out of here now.”

Others agreed, telling the security guard to leave the men alone.

“I am an American citizen,” he shot back, “and I have the right to see if these two are illegals or not.”

The man eventually left – to the applause of the diners – but he returned shortly and said he had called the authorities to come pick up the two men.

Fed up, Morken offered the patrons a ride. The older of the two stood to comply, then took off his sunglasses.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked.

It was ABC’s John Quiñones. The man eating with him and the security guard were both actors. And the entire incident was being filmed by hidden cameras inside BK, 2680 N. First Ave., for an upcoming episode of the ABC show “What Would You Do?”

The episode is to air early next year, likely in February, said Quiñones. The show uses actors and hidden cameras to see how people react in provocative situations.

Focusing an episode on the emotions and confusion surrounding Arizona’s controversial new immigration law was a no-brainer, Quiñones said during a phone interview this week from New York. While some episodes are whimsical, the veteran investigative journalist said he likes to keep a hard edge on the show.

“It’s a story that is close to my heart as a Mexican-American and a big issue nationally,” Quiñones said. “It just lends itself perfectly to ‘What Would You Do?’”

The crew re-enacted two scenes over and over again on Nov. 11-12 at the Tucson eatery known for its Sonoran hot dogs. The “guard” questioned either two men eating together or a couple and their 7-year-old daughter.

The actors weren’t playing illegal immigrants, but rather Hispanics who spoke little English and didn’t carry citizenship documents or visas, Quiñones said.

ABC expected the scenario to elicit support for both the security guard and the Hispanics, he said. But only a couple of people applauded the security guard over the course of the two days. Everyone else reacted in support of the Hispanics being questioned, said Quiñones and BK owner Benjamin Galaz.

“All the people reacted against the racism,” Galaz said. “They all knew about the law (SB 1070) but that it wasn’t the time or the place to disrespect that family.”

The ABC crew filmed a similar episode at a deli in New Jersey, where a worker refused to serve Spanish speakers. During that filming, the reaction was much more mixed, Quiñones said.

ABC officials approached Galaz in October about filming an episode at the restaurant, near East Grant Road and North First Avenue. Galaz also owns the original BK restaurant on the south side, at 5118 S. 12th Ave., but ABC wanted the north-side location because it’s in a more ethnically mixed area and they figured they would find people on both sides of the issue, he said.

Galaz didn’t decide for a week, weighing the potential pitfalls of getting involved in a hot-button political issue. Ultimately, he said yes because he wanted to showcase to the country that Hispanics and non-Hispanics get along just fine in Tucson. While most of his workers are Hispanic, a large portion of his patrons are non-Hispanics, he said.

An ABC crew worked overnight for three days to equip the restaurant with hidden cameras and microphones, Galaz said. They did it while the restaurant was closed to ensure only Galaz knew.

Not everybody enjoyed being part of the show. The staged scenario is not the proper venue to explore SB 1070′s effect on Arizona, said Peri Conley, 32, who witnessed the events on Nov. 11.

She initially signed an ABC waiver allowing her face to appear on the show but later rescinded it. She was told her face would be blurred if she appears in a scene.

The scenarios were not realistic enough to draw conclusions about how Arizonans would react, Conley said. For starters, such an encounter would more likely occur during a traffic stop or on the streets with nobody around to react.

Conley was at the restaurant during two re-enactments. She missed the first one because her back was turned to the scene. Before the next re-enactment, ABC officials asked her not to react since she already knew it was staged. She said several people who were portrayed as diners that day were with the show, making her question how many people were actually able to react.

“It was very staged,” Conley said. “Every element of this was very fake to me.”

Her biggest concern is that several people left before they learned the incident was staged. They might have told family and friends that security guards can ask for people’s papers, spreading misinformation.

“I’ve lost many nights of sleep thinking about this and I’m white,” Conley said. “If this affects me, how can this affect somebody who is not white at this time, right now, when everybody is on edge about it?”

“She Felt so strongly”

Morken, who Quiñones said had the strongest reaction during the two-day shoot, wasn’t thinking about politics when she intervened on behalf of the two patrons being questioned.

“It felt like an angel walked into the scene,” he said. “It was amazing that she did this. She felt so strongly about this. … It was funny, but it was also heartwarming.”

After Quiñones stood and leveled with Morken, he started to ask her, “With all of the controversial laws in Arizona currently on the table …”

Morken cut him off. “It wasn’t about that,” she said.

“Then why do you do what you did?” Quiñones asked.

“I figured those guys probably had some wives and there were some little children involved, and I just didn’t want to see their families torn apart today.”

ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton announced a new and more lenient policy. The agency will soon drop deportation proceedings against those now eligible under the new guidelines affecting thousands of illegal immigrants who have no criminal conviction and who married or are related to a U.S. citizen or a legal resident that has filed a petition for them. The head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has instructed the agency’s legal office to stop the deportation proceedings of foreign nationals who may now be eligible for a green card.

How did we get here? The United States Government is really quite predictable. Driven by the voters and politicians it does take its time, (a long time) and policies and laws usually lean toward civil rights and humanitarian solutions. But some times when the actions of the people become so entrenched in their own quagmire, decisions must be made and actions taken.

In seeking solutions, maybe we can analyze how we got to this point and where it will inevitably end up. This would save a lot of energy and wasted time, and by working together, we could equitably, legally and humanitarianly, solve the border an immigration problems. Just a thought.

After 9-11 this country changed. Once the shock of the world trade center attacks transformed into anger and paranoia the demand for action became our governments answer to reelection. Then the witch-hunt would begin. Airport Security and black lists, Cell phone tracking devices, new personal identity requirements, the lists of liberties and freedoms being compromised grew longer and harsher as the constitution eroded way in the name of freedom.

It was only a matter of time before the newly formed Home Land Security would be getting around to immigration and the need for reform. Actually this in itself was about due, except from the start, goals and results became clouded and a situation developed by tightening of border security as a reaction not a plan, becoming a runway train involving millions of families and two countries. A playground developed for politicians, government contracts, human rights organizations, hate groups and organized crime putting innocent people in danger and disrupting an entire ethic culture affixed to the economic balance, within the United States and in Mexico while creating such severe collateral damage the effects will be felt throughout this century.

After the defeat of the immigration reform bill a plan did emerge. Knowing that there was very little time, the Bush Administration sent the immigration debacle in an interesting direction. Carefully crafting border security policy and selecting wall locations, technology and manpower, the bulk of illegal immigration and drug smuggling was funneled through Arizona. The plan was not intended to use the harsh terrain of the Northern Sonoran desert as a deterrent or a barrier, as some groups are claiming. I don’t believe that even the most perverse of politicians wanted to see a rise of migrant deaths in the desert. That is just not good for the business of politics. So why Arizona?

Of the four US states that border Mexico the demographics of Arizona are very different. California, New Mexico and Texas all have a long intertwining history of multicultural existence. Arizona’s border area is made up primarily of retirement communities with a large population of conservative Midwesterners and long established ranching communities, all with a strong Republican presence.

As border security tightened more seasonal migrant workers who were used to going back and forth to work where unable to return to their families so of course the families began to migrate north. Along with this funneling strategy crime along the Arizona border also escalated. As Midwesterners started to experience a sudden growth in local Hispanic communities that was quite obvious in small rural towns, concerns began to escalate. Wintering in Arizona they would bring home with them reports of increased border crime and the drug wars in Mexico sensationalized by the media and further fueled by activist campaigning for open borders and demonstrations for the rights of illegal immigrants. Uneducated to the real issues and only seeing that a line in the sand was being drawn, mainstream conservative America became terrified. This opened the doors for anti immigration groups and stepped up the pace of border and immigration rights activists and now we have a real mess.

After almost 6 years of covering both sides of the border, it breaks my heart to see these sides formed with such anger, desperation and name calling from both sides. One group by their own actions forces their agenda on another group causing reactions and new agendas in retaliation for perceived survival. We are all familiar with SB1070 and the boycott so let it be said that it certainly doesn’t help matters to have irrational political opportunist like Governor Jan Brewer and Representative Roul Grijalva acting so irresponsibly. Our leaders are supposed to lead the people to solutions not fight each other like the bullies of the playground so every one is punished. Where are the great world leaders of the people we learned about in our history classes, who were thoughtful, diplomatic and open to compromise regardless of political or international lines for the safety and prosperity of all people? Sadly in contemporary society, so many have become nothing more than attention grabbing bickerers driven by the win at all costs mentality.

So let us all take a deep breath and then focus on positive actions, understanding each other’s views and support reasonable leaders, then maybe we can avoid negative reactions and begin to find solutions to the border and immigration issues that we all can live with.

Karl W Hoffman

Photojournalist

Multimedia reporter

Documentary Film Producer

www.livingontheborder.com

Photo By Karl W Hoffman

Photo by Karl W Hoffman

Photo By Karl W Hoffman

Photo by Karl W Hoffman

Photo by Karl W Hoffman

Photo by Karl W Hoffman

Photo by Karl W Hoffman