From the Border Report #6

The Nogales border area features the twin cities of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora. According to local authorities, the population on the US side is 40,000, while the population on the Mexican side may be 400,000.

More than 90% of Nogales, Arizona is Latino. The median family income is $24,637. More than 30% of families are below the poverty line.

On Sunday morning, we met with residents of Nogales, Arizona who live adjacent to the fence. This fence was rebuilt as part of Operation Gatekeeper (at least several miles right at the Nogales entry points) in the mid 1990s. Border Patrol abuse and harassment of residents living along the border is rampant, even though most residents are US citizens.

Residents are not allowed to walk on the street along the border. Some have evidence that their phones have been tapped. The bright floodlights shine on the houses and through their windows at night. One resident complained that she was not allowed to concrete the patio area even though it is regular flooded during the rainy season. Why? Because the Border Patrol did not want to make it easy for potential border crossers to pass through her yard easily. This resident is a citizen and a taxpayer.

Another Nogales resident, Ricardo, a 15 year old, was born in US. Not long ago, he was stopped and arrested by the Border Patrol as he walked down the street. He was held for couple hours, handcuffed, and asked for documents. He didn’t have anything because, after all, what is a 15 year old supposed to be carry to prove citizenship? After the agents ran a fingerprint check and found nothing, they let Ricardo go. We later found out from a different Border Patrol agent, that not finding anything on someone who maintains they are a US citizen is generally enough to satisfy them that the suspect is a US citizen. Ricardo has seen Border Patrol agents stop and beat people on the streets in Nogales.

A border network activist who is a US citizen often travels to visit grandmother in Mexico side with her two sons, who are also US citizens. At inspection, her sons are regularly separated from her and are asked about their status, asked whether or not this is really their mother, and asked whether they are really siblings. This type of profiling and questioning is the environment in which border residents live.

bh