A Radical Proposal: Open the U.S.-Mexico Border (tags)
That's what immigrant rights activist David Schmidt called for at a September 21 meeting of Activist San Diego. Originally called to discuss the closure of Friendship Park along the U.S.-Mexico border, the meeting expanded into a consideration of border issues in general. Schmidt and his better-known co-speaker, Enrique Morones of Border Angels and Marcha Migrante, both questioned why under NAFTA and similar “free trade” agreements, capital, commerce and corporations are allowed to move freely across national boundaries — while workers are trapped inside their home countries and routinely exploited for the greater profits of capital. If business is free to locate wherever it wants, workers should be too, they said.
"Migrant March III" Marches Through Los Angeles (tags)
Enrique Morones launches new caravan movement to raise awareness of humanitarian tragedies along the US-Mexico border.
Protest Against Pete Wilson Statue (tags)
A united coalition of San Diego and Los Angeles activists protested the dedication of a statue honoring ex-governor and supporter of Proposition 187, Pete Wilson.
Caravana Por Justicia!
Minutemen - Enforcers of Death on the Border & Promoters of Racist Hatred (tags)
The U.S. government is enforcing, and trying to pass even worse laws that force immigrants even deeper into the shadows by criminalizing undocumented people and denying them basic services.
Alongside this increasing, inhumane repression, the powers-that-be are promoting an anti-immigrant, nativist, fascist movement throughout the U.S. This vigilante movement is persecuting and hunting down immigrants along the border region, and has also been organizing forces in major cities like Los Angeles and Chicago and counties throughout Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Among this fascist nativist movement, the Minutemen have emerged as a prominent vigilante group that has been gaining notoriety and legitimacy as expert guests on reactionary news channels like Fox and other mainstream media outlets like CNN.
Enrique Morones, whose group the Border Angels puts water through the desert for migrants, has been actively speaking out against the Minutemen and other vigilantes like Ranch Rescue, American Patrol, the Barnett Brothers, among others. Morones says that although the Minutemen are not an organization of thousands, as they often claim, the Minutemen and the increased militarization of the border are responsible for an increase in migrant deaths.
In a phone interview with Revolution, Morones said, “Before Operation Gatekeeper, which was implemented in 1994, there was one estimated death along the border every month. Since then, an estimated 4,000 people have died trying to cross the border.” He told Revolution that 4,000 bodies have been accounted for, but that the realistic number might be considerably higher, “possibly as much as 10,000 deaths.”
It is difficult to measure the exact numbers because while some skeletons and scattered bones are found in the desert, many of the deceased bodies are never found.
“We are Human Beings” Enrique Morones on the New Movement to Defend Immigrants (tags)
An interview with Enrique Morones, bane of the Minutemen, Border Angel and member of the Buenas Noches Brigade.