My
worst fear in starting this blog was that I wouldn’t keep up with it
regularly. This semester has proven to be even more hectic than I
thought it would be and I already have neglected many issues that I’ve
wanted to write about.
That
being said, I want to talk about goals. I’ve set the bar pretty high.
I want social justice. My goals will not be accomplished until this
country no longer promotes and perpetuates an authoritarian regime upon
society and we are truly free. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? This is
supposed to be a free country, right? I mean, just by scanning my
Facebook feed on veterans day, it seems that the grand majority of
everyone is in love with the concept of freedom, so why in the social
justice context is freedom so extraordinarily difficult to attain?
My
focus in law school has been indigenous law and policy. Though my
studies, research, and life experience I have determined that indigenous
people across borders and continents have been tremendously screwed out of basic rights. I am part of the movement for sovereignty, self determination, and decolonization in order to remedy this struggle.
Another issue that is constantly on my mind is immigration. I grew up 38 miles north
of the border. I have experienced the constant monitoring of the
Border Patrol. I often heard about bodies being found in the desert, too
often women and children, who made quite the long journey only to
perish in the struggle to survive. I grew up in a town right next to the
Tohono O’odham Nation, a nation of which I am a member. I grew up
listening to stories of my friends and their families on the reservation
– confrontations and harassment by the border patrol (I have been
harassed many times myself), environmental destruction, inability to attend ceremonies with thousands of Tohono O'odham who live on the Mexican side of T.O. land, and the list goes on.
Because
I spent my college days and some years after in the Tempe/Phoenix area,
I became involved with the immigration struggle as I witnessed issues
like rape, car theft, burglary, etc become ignored by the police as they
took up the job of the border patrol and focused on immigration sweeps
and arresting corn venders, fast food, and car wash workers instead.
Undocumented victims of domestic violence, trafficking, and other crimes
cannot call the police for help. Instead of being people one can rely
on for help, Maricopa County Police have become nothing more than an
armed white supremacist gang supported by the majority of white migrants
(who only care about themselves) in Arizona. To put it lightly, this
caused me to feel a lot of rage. I took part in marches, protests, and
solidarity actions. I found a connection between the indigenous struggle
and the migrant struggle, and tried to make others in the immigrant
struggle aware of this connection. I was shot down. I was told that they
are different struggles and that they are not connected.
Dear people who shot me down: you are wrong. They couldn't be more connected.
Now
many (not all, props to those who are awake) who I once protested with
are now touting Comprehensive Immigration Reform. I feel betrayed, even
though I understand the movement was never completely with me on this
issue. The compromises these folks are willing to make in order to get
minor concessions from the government - to me it is unfathomable.
Supporters of CIR are throwing the Tohono O'odham Nation, other
indigenous border communities, and some of their very own people under a
bus. Why do I think this? The border patrol problems that existed
when I was growing up have multiplied since 9/11. CIR takes this
multiplication and doubles it. It adds trillions of dollars to more
forces, drones, tanks, walls, and massive surveillance. Nothing to the
failing education system, nothing to alleviate ailing economic
conditions, and nothing to help out the community I came from. It is
already a police state! And you know what? The 11 million undocumented -
those who Obama promises a path to citizenship... many of them will be
filtered out because if you read the fine print, they still have to turn
themselves in to be scrutinized for citizenship. Thousands will still
be deported. This is not a compromise I am willing to ever support.
Because of the concessions some are willing to make, I now I am fighting
the same people I once stood in solidarity with (cough, cough, Raul
Grijalva). In my view, they are still good people but have been deceived.
I
didn't intend for this blog to be this long. Feel free to add to this
discussion but don't bother if it is something like "well, when you
consider the issues on the border we need security...." because I have
heard it all. I constantly think and read about these issues, and if you
think this, I think you are an idiot. The more they force a police
state upon us, the worse it gets. I have so much more to say about this, but in the spirit of accomplishing things I am going to sign off for now. Peace.
