Politicians, government officials and the media never cease urging greater public participation in local issues. Citizens are encouraged to get involved and help the authorities stamp out everything from narcotics trafficking to truancy.
Why then is the action by people to aid in stemming illegal border crossing from Mexico to Arizona condemned by some civil rights organizations and their political supporters?
The answer most often heard is that these self-proclaimed “minutemen” are in fact vigilantes seeking to bring their own form of justice to the problem of illegal immigration. While the U.S. Border Patrol has been willing to receive information passed on by these sentries, it has sought not to appear as if it encourages such activity.
Adding to the political-social conflict are Arizona laws regarding overt weapon carrying. The image of gun-toting vigilantes has been publicized by some in the media, aided, alas, by aggressive statements from a few members of the participants.
There is a steady flow of undocumented people coming over the Mexican border. Most are refugees from Mexican and Central American economic impoverishment and are looking for work. They intend either to make money to send home or to gain a residency foothold prior to slipping their families illegally into the United States – or both.
Some of the illegal border crossers, however, are possibly criminals.
Arizona has been described as the weakest spot on our border with Mexico. Scores of sensors and remote cameras have been reported as defunct or not installed, despite millions of dollars spent on them. The people seeking to make up for this surveillance shortfall lack one thing – an official endorsement.
To create a legal posse comitatus, citizens must be under the supervision of a legitimate law enforcement authority. The Arizona Republic newspaper questions why the Border Patrol has not agreed to provide the training and supervision to qualified volunteers much the way the Phoenix Police Department does in its police reserve program – and, as do many other police agencies nationwide.
Throughout the nation civilians are organized by law enforcement to aid in searches for missing people and sometimes dangerous fugitives.
In a problem as large and complicated as border surveillance a well-trained, properly supervised civilian cadre can make a difference. The Constitution is the enabling instrument. The price is right. The need is there. To the extent that civil rights watchdog groups can stand the swings of Arizona heat and cold, they would be welcome to monitor the scouting and sentry duty.
Therein is the rub. Unlike local police agencies and local governments, the federal government is loath to turn to the citizenry for help – even when it clearly needs it. It will “federalize” a state’s National Guard units in dire emergencies, but today that appears to be limited to service in Iraq.
The fact is, federal bureaucrats are driven by a fierce aversion to political conflict – domestically. Foreign intervention is something else again.
In this sense, the Congress is most worried over the appearance of turning back the pages of history to the time when the West was won and then protected by citizens rallying to defend their communities from lawlessness. That’s been the America of song and story, but it is far too untidy and unregulated for today.
Times do change, but if the job can’t be done by the established enforcement agencies for lack of funds and personnel, what’s wrong with turning to the public for help?
Are the willing citizens of Arizona too untrustworthy, unstable or untrainable to be of assistance? Are Arizonans, Texans and New Mexicans too subversive to be trusted? Or are there interests, commercial and political, that want the illegal and unrestricted penetration of our borders to continue? This is becoming more than a rhetorical question.
The need for cheap farm labor is one of the driving forces, and the entire unskilled end of the economic infrastructure of many regions of the country now benefits from this not-so-clandestine immigration.
Gaining control over the flow of undocumented aliens is essential, not only for economic and security reasons, but also to ensure the orderly and non-discriminatory assimilation of these hardworking people into American life.
Immigration keeps vibrant the American culture, economy and polity. Uncontrolled immigration is destabilizing. The Arizona border volunteers should be allowed to help stem this dangerous flood.
George Wittman is a member of the Committee on the Present Danger and the former chairman of the National Institute for Public Policy.
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