Teaching About Border Militias
I talk about border militias in two different classes: Immigration Law and Border Enforcement (Hofstra) and Crimmigration (OU).
In the Hofstra class, I use the film Crossing Arizona as a jumping off point for discussion. (See past posts on this movie here, here, and here.) A 2006 documentary, it has sometimes felt dated. That’s no longer an issue, with this week’s crazy news of a border militia detaining migrants (including children) and the subsequent arrest of one member of that militia by the FBI. (See Kevin’s post on the developments here.)
You should download or bookmark the youtube video from this militia about their round up of migrants. It’s remarkable.
I also recommend that you revisit this 2016 article, that we previously highlighted, from The Atlantic: Undercover with a Border Militia. It’s an astounding first-hand account of a reporter embedding himself with a border militia. Again, more evidence that while no one is currently talking about “minutemen project” that was big in 2004-2006, the border militia movement is still going strong.
-KitJ