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Signature Drive to Create California Border Patrol

By Manuel Ortìz, El Mensajero, Translated by Elena Shore

SAN FRANCISCO – Aug 18, 2005  – Republican Assemblyman Ray Haynes has introduced a bill that would create a new Border Patrol in California, arguing that we must get rid of illegal immigrants because they “flagrantly take advantage” of taxpayers.

The bill, ACA 20, was evaluated and brought to a vote on July 5 in the State Assembly Judicial Committee where it was rejected.  Now Haynes, together with a group of volunteers, is launching a signature collection campaign to put the measure on the 2006 ballot.

The signature campaign, which began on July 25, will be conducted by a company hired by the Border Patrol Committee of California. According to committee spokesperson Cristina Rivera, in order to make it onto ballot, a minimum of 598,106 signatures must be collected in the next 150 days.

In a phone interview with El Mensajero, Rivera said they hope to collect 900,000 signatures. “Californians, many of them in San Diego, are tired of illegal immigration and want something to be done because the federal government is not solving the problem.”

The California Border Patrol, according to Rivera, would be composed of approximately 2,000 agents and would cost between 200 and 400 million dollars.

“Californians are prepared to pay for this measure,” she said, “because illegals are costing us nine billion dollars a year that we spend on their medical care, education and keeping them in jail when they commit a crime.”

When asked if she thought the bill could jeopardize the rights of immigrant workers, Rivera responded, “No, because those who come here illegally and take advantage of our system don’t have rights.”

George Andrews, executive director of the California Border Police Committee, said in an interview that although they expect some opposition, the proposal to create a California Border Patrol is very popular and “relies on the support of recognized politicians, journalists and many groups of people throughout California.”

Haynes: “A Distortion of Reality”

“The Hanyes bill is an attack on border communities and all California immigrants,” says Maria Poblet, spokesperson for St. Peter’s Housing Committee, an immigrant rights advocacy organization in San Francisco.  Interviewed at the offices of La Raza Legal Center, Poblet refers to an April 5 article published by The New York Times that reveals that the majority of immigrants pay taxes and contribute much more to the economy than they receive in social benefits.

This case has also been made numerous times by renowned writer Carlos Fuentes, author of The Crystal Border.  In an article entitled “The Masked Racist,” he writes, “Mexicans are not invading the U.S.. They are obeying the laws of work.  If one day there were full employment in Mexico, the U.S. would have to find cheap labor in another country.”  He adds, “Mexican migrant workers pay 29 billion dollars more in taxes each year than they receive in services.”

For this reason, Poblet says, “Assemblyman Haynes’ discourse is a distortion of reality. The creation of his Border Patrol would only lead to a wave of racism and discrimination against immigrants, legal and illegal: there would be unjustified detentions; workers would live in a state of panic; and they would be afraid of going to the police if they were victims of a crime.”

Since the appearance of the Border Patrol in 1924, the group has had a direct effect on the number of deaths of those attempting to cross the border illegally in search of work. The increase of officials and the militarization of the border, according to reports by the United States Office of the Controller General, has led to a change in the crossing areas, from urban areas to the deserts and mountains where the risk of death is greater.

“The creation of another armed group to repress our community will not end immigration, because the causes of this phenomenon – poverty in our countries and the enormous necessity of cheap labor in the United States – still continue,” says Poblet. “This bill will only increase the number of deaths on the border.”