By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON, Jul 7 2000 (IPS)

While the world expressed shock at the suffo cation deaths of 58 Chinese immigrants concealed in a Dutch lorry on a cross -Channel boat to Britain last month, more than 220 migrants have died in remot e areas along the border between the United States and Mexico since last Octo ber.

Those deaths resulted not only from the determination of mainly Mexic an workers to cross the border in search of jobs here, but also from recent effo rts by the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) to block access to tr aditional crossing points near urban centres, especially El Paso, Texas; San Di ego, California; and Nogales, Arizona.

Those efforts, which have featured the construction of huge steel wal ls and sharp increases in the number of Border Patrol (BP) agents, have driv en tens of thousands of migrants into much more dangerous terrain the mountains and deserts along the Arizona and Texas borders where they can fall prey to hunger, dehydration, and exhaustion.

They have also driven migrants increasingly into the hands of unscrup ulous “coyotes” professional smugglers who charge thousands of dollars to get people across the border and who are known to abandon stragglers to the elem ents to avoid arrest.

The policy is also wreaking havoc in rural border communities that ha ve been overwhelmed by the flood of migrants and the increased BP presence. S ome ranchers have armed themselves and seized migrants on or near their l and; Hispanic and indigenous residents have been mistaken for undocumented migrants and detained by BP agents; and many in the region want Washington to reverse its policy, if for no other reason than to save lives.

“We are living through a human rights crisis along the border,” said Tucson attorney Isabel Garcia. “It hasn’t been addressed here (in Washingt on), so far away from the border, and more Border Patrol is not the solution.”

Garcia was a member of a delegation of Arizona residents sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) which did the rounds in Was hington last week. The group wants Washington to address the root causes of t he immigrant flood, including the failure of the North American Free Tra de Agreement (NAFTA) to create more jobs in Mexico or to give Mexican wo rkers the same opportunity to seek jobs in the United States as US companies ha ve to invest in Mexico.

“We believe the only way we’re going to resolve the situation is if Mexico becomes an equal partner with Canada and the US, and there is a free flow of workers, as well as capital,” added Jesus Romo Vejar, a Tucson attorn ey who has represented farm workers in the past. “That’s the only solution, no matter what.”

Romo and Garcia may have gained a powerful ally in their efforts with the presidential election victory Sunday in Mexico of Vicente Fox. In sta tements since his election, Fox also has criticised NAFTA for not promoting ” freer movement of people,” as well as merchandise.

Since the INS has tried to shut down major crossings in California, s outhern Arizona has become the most important route for migrants trying to ge t into the United States. BP arrests in the area have doubled since 1995, to alm ost half a million in 1999 alone. Between 1 million and 3 million migrants are believed to have successfully gotten across into Arizona from Mexico in the same year.

As desert temperatures have soared with the onset of summer, however, more than 45 migrants have died trying to get across, according to Garcia. Hund reds more have suffered severe dehydration and have had to be treated at local hospitals.

The INS recently announced plans to train more BP agents in life- savi ng techniques and set up warning signs along the border. “We want to red uce the number of deaths and increase safety on both sides of the border,” according to INS Commissioner Doris Meissner.

But many area residents say much more could be done, such as setting up watering stations on known smuggling routes.

“We don’t even know if it’s legal to give water to distressed mig rants,” without violating US immigration laws, said Sally Holcomb, a civic ac tivist in Bisbee who also served on the AFSC delegation. Father Robert Carney, a Catholic priest from the area, noted that some residents have been threatened with arrest by the BP for offering water and other assistance.

Still, Washington shows no sign of backing off its tough border polic y. The number of BP agents in the Tucson sector has grown from 287 in 1994 t o more than 1,200 today. Their increased presence has had a particularly dam aging impact on indigenous and Latino residents who are often stopped on th e highway for identification checks. “Because our skin is brown, we are constan tly harassed,” said Garcia.

Moreover, local residents express doubt that the more BP agents are h aving the desired effect. “We are still being overrun,” said Cochise Country Sh eriff Larry Dever in testimony here last week. He described the “social, ec onomic and environmental impacts” of the migrant flow as “devastating.”

Not only has the sense of security previously enjoyed by the resident s of the region been greatly reduced, he said, but the sheer volume of trash a nd other wastes left behind by the migrants on the arduous trek through the de sert from Agua Prieta threatens rare desert ecosystems, including national park s.

The costs of cleaning up garbage and providing medical care for distr essed migrants are borne almost entirely by local communities whose tax bas e is far too small to afford them, according to Holcomb.

Worse, tensions are rising on both sides of the border. Vigilante act ions by some local ranchers and reports of brutality against migrants by BP a gents have drawn statements of concern from top officials in the Mexican governm ent. And migrants whose rights have been violated by local ranchers or the BP prefer to be quickly deported back to Mexico rather than to remain in jail whil e fighting for justice in US courts.

For its part, the INS insists that its tactics are working in the Ari zona desert as well as they have in the urban border crossings, and that s muggling operations are already moving from Agua Prieta to the Del Rio region in Texas, hundreds of kilometres to the southeast.

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