Repressing Solidarity in Arizona's Borderlands: Part I

What kind of anti-oppression preventative measures, cultural norms have you all developed in response to this form of oppression and the ways in which it is meant to disrupt your work?

I think one thing that for me, like I, I understand the legal context like way less, but I think that's like felt the most effective is like, I think one of the most powerful things that border patrol and just like all of this like border militarization militarization does is.

It's kind of create this like vibe of like, you can't do anything.

You're always being watched.

You can't like, you know, you can't resist the border.

You can't like help a migrant.

You can't do all this stuff.

But of course, it happens and people do hospitality and the like legal education stuff that Eliza was talking about of...

Being of talking to community members and like kind of give it making them feel empowered to actually help people give them the resources to to not just call 911 as kind of like the only thing that they can that they can do when they see somebody in distress or when they see somebody just asking for water or hospitality.

Um, has been huge.

And also like, as we've, I think something that's really exciting for me in low keel is all these people that I think, um, there's so much like land defense all throughout the country for, um, a lot of different causes.

And it's, it seemed like, like, not as, not as prevalent on the US-Mexico border.

And I think part of that is this sort of like fear of that militarization, this fear of like, like the laws are different, the hundred mile constitution free zone, you know, you hear all these like things and it feels like this, like, You just can't do anything down there.

You'll get shot.

You'll go to prison.

But as you see, they sent the Border Patrol to Portland, Oregon.

So it's like once you actually go down there and see it, see how stupid the border wall is, yell at a couple Border Patrol agents and actually are able to operate and resist on... levels that you can in the same way other places in spite of all of this repression and militarization everything it's just super empowering feeling and I think especially like border patrol they're not really used to dealing with US citizens they don't know what the law is they don't know how to even just like on an interpersonal level they don't know how to assert themselves sometimes like you can actually kind of just bully them in a way that you can't bully like the police or the sheriffs or something.

And yeah, I think just actually being there and doing the work and getting as many people involved as possible has felt really, really powerful and also kind of just takes the wind out of the sails of the militarization and enforcement regime.

And it's a really full spectrum movement, I would say, like people across the political spectrum with really divergent beliefs often can rally around not wanting to be surveilled and policed in their own communities.

And so there's a lot of solidarity that exists between people who might have a completely different understanding of migration, why people across the desert don't necessarily even like that it's happening, but don't like Border Patrol more.

And so there's a lot of kind of organizing and congealing around that because they really don't help or service anybody.

You know, of course, people have bought into this myth that they're protecting us from the national security threat and the criminals and all of this.

And I think even people who believe that on TV, but watch it play out in their own backyards aren't sold because it's so apparent that the work of Border Patrol and other enforcement agencies is futile, violent, destructive.

It's way more impactful on the environment than people crossing.

You know, there's all these fallacies that kind of come to light if you're actually witnessing it and living it every day.