A Hard Right on Illegal Immigration
Along the border between Mexico and the United States, voluntary border vigilantes are becoming increasingly more violent. Violence is a foregone conclusion when these groups have been infiltrated by neo-Nazis, skinheads, supremacists and right-wing extremists. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, anti-immigrant fanatics believe they have a mission to protect our borders. The problem is that their mission is not as black and white as their convictions.
Chris Simcox, a former kindergarten teacher, was profoundly affected by the 9/11 attacks. Afterward, he expressed racist rhetoric and boasted that he was accumulating more guns. This out-of-the-closet racist ultimately lost his job, his wife and a custody battle. As his life disintegrated, Simcox relocated from California to Arizona to clear his head. After his trip into the wilderness, he cashed in a sixty thousand dollar retirement account and bought a newspaper called the Tombstone Tumbleweed. Opening banner headlines pressed for volunteers to protect our borders.
In 2003, Simcox formed a group called Civil Homeland Defense, and, in 2005,he joined forces with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. Shortly after vigilante patrols began going out, immigrant Miguel Angel Palafox was shot in the neck by two men dressed all in black. Two among twelve immigrants resting by a pond were shot and killed near Red Rock, AZ, also by men covered in black. Some suspected but it was never proved that Simcox was connected to these acts of violence.
This violence can be particularly bad when you consider that vigilantes are notoriously inept at distinguishing between American citizens and illegal immigrants. When Roger Barnett detained American citizens at gunpoint, civil courts awarded these Mexican American citizens nearly $100,000. This wasn't the first time Barnett and other vigilantes have faced legal and civil problems. Barnett and others often escape justice or judgments because it is difficult for illegal immigrants to testify at scheduled civil trials.
Local authorities maintain they aren't sure what laws voluntary border guards are breaking, so these self-appointed border patrols remain unencumbered by law enforcement. Many vigilante groups are also well-connected with local ranchers, landowners and law enforcement officials. They are affiliated with high-ranking Border Patrol agents and even unabashedly supported by government officials like U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who advocates for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Yet it's difficult for anyone to condone the actions of border activists like Casey Nethercott, a convicted felon. In 2003, Nethercott pistol whipped Edwin Alfredo Mancia Gonzales and assaulted Fatima Leiva, both immigrants from El Salvador. In 2005, Gonzales and Leiva won a judgment and took possession of Nethercott's 70 acre ranch in Texas. Later, when the FBI attempted to arrest Nethercott on his ranch on weapons and assault charges, Nethercott and Kalen Robert Riddle, a neo-Nazi, bothrefused to relinquish their weapons. Riddle was shot by FBI agents and critically injured.
Simcox and others claim their actions are done to shame the government into action. They want to force a change in illegal immigration policy and increase border protections. However, policy reform should represent moderate values not extremist agendas. Whose values are they advocating when these border vigilantes are taking lives and committing violent acts? It's hard to clearly define their mission when they seem to be selectively protecting white America and a racist agenda rather than representing all U.S. citizens. Perhaps we should rescind the citizenship of racist border vigilantes and see if Mexico would take them.
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