Callie here with an update! Since we returned from our month in Mexico and our week of spring break, we've been working with our various organizations. I'm working at Derechos Humanos (The Coalition for Human Rights) where I help spread the word about upcoming events such as our Citizenship Fair, May Day events, and Know Your Rights presentations. All of these are available to the immigrant population in Tucson to educate and empower. On a day to day basis, I've been answering phones, going to community meetings, and working at the abuse clinic which occurs twice a week. In particular, the abuse clinic has opened my eyes to how real discrimination and wage abuses can be for people working and living in Tucson. I've been able to take on a few cases of my own (mostly working with people who weren't paid for their work) and I'm happy to say that we've been pretty successful. I'm also working to design a bulletin for public distribution about Operation Streamline which Miriam described earlier in this blog.
Needless to say, we've been very busy. Although we did make time to drive to Nogales, Arizona to meet with the Border Patrol. There, we met Danny Rodriguez who has been working for the BP since 2000. He got his start in Yuma and was one of the agents who dealt with the Yuma 14, a border tragedy which we had read about in the book "The Devil's Highway". He showed us a Powerpoint presentation full of information and pictures of the history of BP, the weapons they use, drugs they've found, and latest technology for detecting people. We bombarded him with questions and he kindly answered them all for nearly 2 hours
before taking us on a tour of the office. He showed us where agents check out their equipment, the room full of TV monitors broadcasting the various areas of the border, and the detention center where undocumented migrants check in and await their fate. After meeting with so many organizations who are against border militarization, it was important for us to hear from the other side in order to fully understand how border enforcement works.
