(LA Times) – Demonstrations unfolded Wednesday at six
Arizona border checkpoints, where protesters complained that the Border Patrol
has turned their hometowns into intimidating militarized zones, among other
border control issues that threaten the quality of their lives.
At the Arivaca checkpoint, about 20 miles outside the town,
dozens of protesters stopped traffic for less than a minute in an attempt to
shut down the facility, but federal agents quickly herded the group to the
roadside.
“It seems like a war zone all the time,” said Patty Miller,
who has lived in the area for 31 years and took up a megaphone to shout out her
opinion.
Other protests, organized by independent border town
community groups, focused on a variety of concerns. In Bisbee, residents voiced
concern about the environmental effect of a border fence. Native Americas
of the Tohono O’odham Nation complained the Border Patrol was intruding on
tribal land. In Tucson, protesters focused on the shooting death of a
16-year-old Mexican boy by a Border Patrol agent in October 2012.
At the Arivaca checkpoint, protesters said the town draws
two types of residents: people who want to live a secluded lifestyle, far from
big cities; and residents who want to move away but can’t.
That mix of aging hippies, back-to-the-landers and migrants
makes Arivaca particularly antipathetic to arguments that the show of force
among Border Patrol agents is making the area safer.
“We’re here to listen for the true issues,” Border Patrol
Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla Jr. said as he watched a
12-foot papier-mache effigy of himself stalk toward the checkpoint.
The effigy had red, mangled fingers and a sign that read
“Border Patrol has blood on its hands.”
“We stop everything here: drugs, smuggling,” Padilla said,
adding that the protests were the result of a misunderstanding of the Border
Patrol’s role in maintaining safety in the area.
Padilla said the agency has shown a willingness to listen
the concerns of residents, many who raise cattle and horses.
When a speed strip was installed at the checkpoint, it was
high enough to make livestock trailers take a hard bounce when they crossed.
In response, the agency lowered the strip, Padilla
said, which he believes is a sign of progress.
Protesters said that they felt threatened at the checkpoint,
that they had to put on fake smiles every morning and hide their fear at
dealing with men and women with guns.
“This checkpoint serves as a deterrent to living in
Arivaca,” said Maggie Milinovitech.
In town, opinions were more nuanced.
Virginia Engle recalled dangerous days before the Border
Patrol that were “very bad.” The Mexican drug cartels, she said, “left lots of
bodies in the desert.”
Engle runs Virginia’s, the cafe on Arivaca’s tiny, rutted
main street — one of about eight businesses, including a bar, antique stores
and an art co-op.
The Border Patrol agents tend to shop in Three Points,
Ariz., where there is a coffee shop near a firing range, Engle said. But she’s
happy they’re here now because she feels safer.
“I serve everybody, everybody,” Engle said. “It’s better
since they came.”
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ff-arizona-border-protests-20150527-story.html
http://www.teaparty.org/residents-arizona-border-town-like-war-zone-time-100819/
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