Give me your tired, your poor, your braceros

Having passed some of the harshest anti-immigrant legislation in the nation, Arizona legislators, faced with a mass exodus of essential workers and pressure from business interests, are talking about reversing their previous stance and now want to actively recruit immigrant workers to the state. But of course with some conditions …

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They want a guest worker program, limited to agricultural workers that "doesn't lead to citizenship, doesn't lead to permanent status, can't bring family with you, can't come here and have your babies, can't come here and be a burden on the taxpayer, come here, work, earn your wages, pay your taxes and go home when it's done" … Essentially, a return to a bracero style program of the past.

This, despite overwhelming evidence that current guest worker programs are a dismal failure, supplying nothing but misery for their participants while assuring profits for what become in essence government sanctioned plantations.

The failures of current guest worker programs are numerous and systemic as evidenced by this testimony by Mary Bauer, Director of the Immigration Justice Program at the Southern Poverty Law Center before the House Education and Labor Committee.

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But these abuses have not been limited to just agricultural workers or those from Mexico or South/Central America. Importation of modern day indentured servants has become a global industry.

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The answer to our failed immigration system is not to perpetuate and expand on failed policies, or return to exploitive and discriminatory practices of the past. Allowing workers to be treated as commodities, to be traded across borders at will to the lowest bidder, is no substitute for true reform of the system.

Anti-immigrant advocates like Russell Pearce, having had their plans blow in their face, now look for alternatives to prevent the severe economic consequences of their actions.

But allowing them to codify indentured servitude to placate angry business interests is not the answer. As they finally come to terms with the economic reality that immigrant workers are the backbone of their economy, let them now come to terms with the ramifications of that fact … the only answer is to reform the immigration system to respect and protect the human rights and dignity of all people. Anything less would be nothing more than a return to braceros.

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New study shows undocumented immigrants good for Arizona economy

We can now add Arizona to the long list of states in which recent studies prove that the current influx of immigrants, both legal and undocumented, have contributed far more in taxes than they receive in government services.

Joining studies from California, Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Washington DC, and Long Island, NY, a new report from Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at The University of Arizona looks at the contributions and costs of Arizona's immigrant population and finds not only an overall net gain for the state, but that the loss of this population would likely cause long term economic problems.

At a time when states like Georgia, Oklahoma and Colorado, and municipalities large and small all over the country, are passing harsh legislation intended to drive off their immigrant populations, this Arizona study concludes that, in the long run, these restrictionist tactics will end up creating economic disaster for certain segments of the economy and an overall loss for all residents. These finding don't bode well for the state which already has some of the toughest anti-immigrant laws in the nation.

The study is also unique in that it breaks out the non-citizen population from the rest of the immigrant population and still comes to the same overall conclusions.

This is a important development, since one of the restrictionsts chief weapons in their war of misinformation has been the lack of information on the contributions of the undocumented versus the larger immigrant population.

This has allowed them to wrongly discount or discredit many of the previous studies by claiming that undocumented are somehow different than the broader immigrant population in their use of services or contributions.

Based on this study, the total state tax revenue attributable to immigrant workers was an estimated $2.4 billion, of which about $1.5 billion came from for non-citizens. Balanced against estimated fiscal costs of $1.4 billion (for education, health care, and law enforcement), the net 2004 fiscal impact of immigrants in Arizona was positive by about $940 million.

The 2004 total economic output attributable to immigrant workers was about $44 billion, $29 billion of that coming from non-citizens. This output included $20 billion in labor and other income and resulted in approximately 400,000 full-time-equivalent jobs.

The study also looks at what impact the removal of as little as 10-15% of the immigrant workforce would have on the state's economy. Over $.5 billion in tax revenues would be lost, 125,000 jobs and $13.5 billion of lost economic output.

Clearly, lawmakers from statehouses to city councils across the country should examine this study before they begin to contemplate the adoption of restrictionist tactics and harsh legislation when addressing this issue. …..like the old saying goes:
"Be careful what you wish for … or you just might get it."

Immigrants in Arizona: Fiscal and Economic Impacts
by Judith Gans
Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at The University of Arizona.

Preface
Arizona’s foreign-born population has grown dramatically since 1990 when there were about 268,700 foreign-born persons in the state. By 2004, the foreign-born population had grown to 830,900. This is more than a 200 percent increase. The vast majority of these new immigrants are in the non-citizen category, which went from 163,300 to about 619,800, an increase of almost 280 percent. Most immigrants are of working age and have come to the United States seeking employment. This fact is central to their impacts in Arizona.

The likelihood that many of Arizona’s non-citizens are undocumented immigrants has fueled anger over lawlessness and made discussion of immigration in Arizona politically contentious. But Arizona’s experience is a specific case of a national problem, one that exists because large economic incentives in today’s global economy are overwhelming the U.S. immigration system – a system that is widely understood to be in need of reform. Public discourse that equates immigration and illegal immigration is narrowly focused and risks overlooking broader dimensions of the role of immigrants in the economy.

It is not the purpose of this study to address the myriad issues surrounding illegal immigration or to imply in any way that illegal immigration is not a problem. Rather, the objective of this study is to suspend, for the moment, discussion of this narrow topic and focus instead on a broader examination of all immigrants’ impacts on Arizona’s economic and fiscal health. By so doing, we hope to create a more thorough understanding of the economic costs and benefits of immigration and of the tradeoffs involved in setting and enforcing immigration policy.

In Brief

Arizona’s proximity to Mexico, the growth of its immigrant population, and the proportion of immigrants that are in the United States illegally have made immigration a contentious issue. This study is intended to step back from debates over illegal immigration and deepen our understanding of the costs and contributions of immigrants to Arizona’s economy.

Executive Summary

This report examines the costs and benefits of immigration in Arizona. It provides estimates of the of incremental fiscal cost associated with immigrants – education, health care, and law enforcement – and measures their contributions to Arizona’s economy both as consumers and as workers. The two categories of immigrants (naturalized citizens and non-citizens) are examined separately in order to disentangle the economic costs and benefits associated with each.

The bottom line

Based on this study, the total state tax revenue attributable to immigrant workers was an estimated $2.4 billion (about $860 million for naturalized citizens plus about $1.5 billion for non-citizens). Balanced against estimated fiscal costs of $1.4 billion (for education, health care, and law enforcement), the net 2004 fiscal impact of immigrants in Arizona was positive by about $940 million.

The 2004 total economic output attributable to immigrant workers was about $44 billion ($15 billion for naturalized citizens and $29 billion for non-citizens). This output included $20 billion in labor and other income and resulted in approximately 400,000 full-time-equivalent jobs.

Fiscal costs of immigration

Estimates of the incremental fiscal costs of immigration were derived from a variety of sources. In summary:

• Education: For this analysis, English Language Learner (ELL) enrollment was used as a proxy for the number of immigrant children in Arizona’s public schools. The 2004 cost of ELL education in Arizona was about $540 million of which about $350 million (65 percent) was incurred in Maricopa County.



• Health care: Total uncompensated care costs (reported as bad debt) for hospitals in Arizona was about $420 million, of which an estimated $150 million (32 percent) was incurred by immigrants. Of the $150 million in uncompensated care costs associated with immigrants, nearly $140 million was incurred by non-citizens.
  
  The total cost in 2004 of Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona’s Medicaid program, was $4.3 billion, of which an estimated $640 million was incurred by immigrants. Of the $640 million in AHCCCS costs associated with immigrants, about $480 million was incurred by non-citizens.



• Law enforcement: In the area of law enforcement, the cost to the Arizona Department of Corrections of incarcerating immigrants in 2004 was $91 million, of which $89 million was for non-citizens.

Immigrants as consumers

As consumers, immigrants bring considerable spending power to Arizona’s economy. This spending contributes to Arizona’s overall economic performance, and, in turn, generates tax revenues for the state.

• Jobs and income: Consumer spending in 2004 by naturalized citizen households in Arizona was an estimated $6.1 billion. Approximately 39,000 full-time equivalent jobs can be attributed to this spending along with $5.9 billion of output in the state’s economy.
  
  This output included labor income of $1.2 billion, and other income (defined as rents, royalties, dividends, and corporate profits) of $900 million.
  
  Consumer spending in 2004 by non-citizen households in Arizona was an estimated $4.4 billion. Approximately 28,000 full-time equivalent jobs can be attributed to this spending along with $4.3 billion of output in the state’s economy. This output included labor income of about $930 million, and other income (defined as rents, royalties, dividends, and corporate profits) of $560 million.



• Tax revenues: Consumer spending in 2004 by Arizona’s naturalized citizens generated tax revenues of approximately $460 million, consisting of personal taxes of about $49 million, sales taxes of about $210 million, and business taxes of $190 million.
  
  Consumer spending in 2004 by Arizona’s non-citizens generated tax revenues of approximately $320 million, consisting of personal taxes of nearly $36 million, sales taxes of $150 million, and business taxes of about $130 million.
  Immigrants as workers
  
  Immigrants in 2004 were 14 percent of Arizona’s workforce, and were a larger proportion of low-skilled labor in agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and certain service industries. High-skilled immigrants were a large percent of the workers in specific areas of medicine and science.

In low-skilled occupations in Arizona:

• Agriculture: Immigrants were 59 percent of the workforce in farming occupations and 22 percent of the workforce in food-preparation-and-serving occupations.


• Construction: Immigrants were between 35 percent and 41 percent of the workforce in certain construction trades such as brick masons, flooring installers, and cement masons. They were 27 percent of the workforce in all construction trades.


• Manufacturing: Immigrants were 35 percent of the workforce in food-related manufacturing, 46 percent of the workforce in textile-related manufacturing, and 22 percent of the workforce in metal-working manufacturing.


• Service industries: Immigrants were 34 percent of the workforce in occupations providing services to buildings, 51 percent of the workforce in landscaping-services occupations, and 38 percent of the workforce in building-and-grounds maintenance. Immigrants were 26 percent of the workforce in traveler-accommodations occupations, 23 percent of the workforce in restaurant-and-food-serving occupations, and 33 percent of the workforce in private-household help.

In high-skilled occupations in Arizona:

• Medicine: Immigrants were 38 percent of medical scientists and 19 percent of physicians and surgeons.


• Science: Immigrants were 36 percent of astronomers and physicists, 16 percent of computer-hardware engineers, 18 percent of computer-software engineers, and 17 percent of electrical and electronics engineers. Immigrants were 15 percent of economists.

Economic contributions of immigrant labor

Approximately $15 billion, or four percent, of the state’s output can be attributed to naturalized citizen workers, resulting in about 120,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. This output included $4.9 billion in labor income and $1.9 billion of other income in the state. State tax revenues resulting from this economic activity were approximately $860 million.

Non-citizens, for their part, contributed about $29 billion, or eight percent of Arizona’s economic output, resulting in about 280,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. Their output included $10 billion in labor income, and $3.3 billion in other property income. The state tax revenues resulting from this economic activity were approximately $1.5 billion.

The role of immigrants as workers can be further understood by analyzing the potential consequences of this source of labor not being available. In other words, what would be the impacts if immigrant labor were removed from the economy?

To this end, this study used a series of computer simulations to examine the impacts of reduced immigrant labor on the industries that employ relatively large numbers of immigrants. The study focused on industries employing low-skilled, non-citizen workers because this is where recent growth in Arizona’s immigrant population has occurred and because we know that significant numbers of these workers are in the country without authorization. Thus, the simulations are designed to estimate the economic consequences of eliminating this segment of the workforce.

• Agriculture: A 15-percent, immigrant-workforce reduction in the agriculture sector would result in direct losses of 3,300 full-time-equivalent jobs, and losses of about $600 million in output including lost labor income of about $200 million, and lost other income of about $110 million. The lost direct state tax revenue would be approximately $25 million.


• Construction: A 15-percent, immigrant-workforce reduction in the construction sector would result in direct losses of about 56,000 full-time-equivalent jobs, and about $6.6 billion in output including lost labor income of about $2.6 billion and some $450 million in lost other income. The direct lost state tax revenue would be approximately $270 million.


• Manufacturing: A ten-percent reduction in immigrants in the manufacturing workforce would result in direct losses of about 12,000 full-time-equivalent jobs, and about $3.8 billion in output including lost labor income of about $740 million, and lost other income of nearly $290 million. The lost direct state tax revenue would be approximately $100 million.


• Service industries: In the service sectors analyzed, a 16-percent reduction in the immigrant labor force would translate to direct losses of 54,000 full-time-equivalent jobs, and lost output of $2.5 billion including reduced labor income of about $900 million, and reductions in other income of about $270 million. The lost direct state tax revenue would be nearly $160 million.

Net fiscal impacts of immigrants

Total state tax revenue attributable to immigrant workers was estimated to be about $2.4 billion ($860 million for naturalized citizens plus $1.5 billion for non-citizens). Balanced against estimated incremental fiscal costs of $1.4 billion, the net 2004 fiscal impact of immigrants in Arizona was positive, by approximately $940 million.

As 14 percent of the workforce, immigrants make significant contributions to Arizona’s economy. There are also specific fiscal costs associated with immigrants. But, by virtue of their contributions as workers to Arizona’s economic output, their overall contribution to the state’s fiscal health is positive. Certainly, these impacts are changing over time, but looking at data for one year provides a snapshot of the extent and magnitude of the role of immigrants in Arizona’s economy.

Note: We have estimated the incremental (marginal) costs of immigrants as individuals. If the immigrants were not present in Arizona, these costs would disappear. Immigrants’ impacts on costs of social services, such as fire and public safety protection, are not estimated because it is not possible to measure the incremental costs attributable to immigrants for these services.

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UPDATE: 10/16/07: 7:30 EDT

Some questions have been raised at various other sites about two aspects of this study. One is the standard question about breaking down the numbers for just the undocumented population as oppossed to the non-citizen population as a whole.

The other questioning the extrapolations made about the economic costs of losing a portion of the undocumented workforce and the possible replacement of those workers with US-born workers.

the study answers both those questions:

How much of Arizona's immigrant population is here illegally?

We do not know. The U.S. Census does not ascertain legal presence in the United States when conducting its surveys and so the non-citizen category includes both legal and illegal non-citizen immigrants. However, there are reasonable, statistically derived estimates. Research by Jeffrey Passel at the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that, in 2002, there were between 250,000 and 350,000 unauthorized immigrants in Arizona, most of whom came from Mexico, and that by 2005 their numbers had increased to as many as 500,000.

Given these numbers it's statistically safe to estimate that somewhere around 80% of the non-citizen population is in fact undocumented in Arizona. This allows us to extrapolate the statistics given on the "non-citizen" population to see what's occurring with just the undocumented portion of that population.

As to the extrapolations made about the effects of the removal of the undocumented population on the economy and the likelihood that US-born workers would step up to fill the gap:

Our analysis to this point has focused on measuring the portion of Arizona's economic activity attributable to immigrants in its workforce. This raises the following question: would the jobs filled by immigrants be taken instead by native-born workers if immigrants were not part of the labor force in Arizona? The answer to this question is complex but largely depends on the availability of native-born workers with skills similar to Educational attainment data, both for Arizona and for the United States, indicate that immigrants and native-born workers tend to have different skills, with immigrants filling specific gaps in the native-born workforce by providing needed low-skilled and high-skilled workers. Immigrants in Arizona are an important source of low-skilled labor and of specific high-skilled labor that is relatively scarce in the native-born population and thus are vital to the total output of the industries that employ them. It is difficult to make the case that all or even most jobs filled by immigrants would, instead, be filled by native-born workers if immigrant workers were not available.

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Arizona looks at new warning system for migrants

With the peak season for triple-digit heat and migrant deaths quickly approaching in the Arizona desert, a controversial new program as been proposed by an Arizona doctor to provide a "a probability of death" index for would-be migrants. The new initiative would be similar to other standard weather warnings but would predict the likelihood of death for those migrants attempting to cross the border from Mexico.

State officials plan to roll out Dr. Samuel Keim's prognosticating report stating which days will have the greatest probability of death for migrants before the summer heat peaks.

"By May, we will have an extreme heat warning based upon increasing probabilities that deaths will occur among border crossers," Keim said. "From four consecutive years of data, we have found that as the temperature on a given day reaches 104, the probability of death among the border crossers in [Pima] County reaches 50 percent."

Border deaths--and efforts to alleviate them, such as installing water stations--are fiercely debated in a state that has become the nation's busiest area for smuggling illegal immigrants. Even getting an accurate toll is contentious, as a federal audit recently criticized how the Border Patrol could be undercounting border deaths, which doubled over 10 years to 472 in 2005, mostly in Arizona.
Chicago Tribune

Keim, an associate professor at The University of Arizona Department of Emergency Medicine, published the first scientific journal article to investigate the public health issue of heat-related deaths among immigrants crossing into Arizona

"Estimating the Incidence of Heat-Related Deaths Among Immigrants in Pima County, Arizona," published in the April, 2006 issue of the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, examined the heat-related deaths recorded by the Pima County Medical Examiner between 1998-2003.

Last month, his findings were confirmed when the Binational Migration Institute (BMI) of the University of Arizona’s Mexican American Studies and Research Center published "The 'Funnel Effect' & Recovering Bodies of Unauthorized Migrants Processed by the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, 1990-2005", a report that examined more than 900 autopsy reports from the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office from 1990 to 2005.

Though some observers wonder whether Keim's chance-of-death forecast plan would dissuade anyone, Keim said the perennial body count has grown to "a public health concern."

"These people are dying on U.S. soil. This is a U.S. issue. It's not a Mexico issue. If 100 people died anywhere in a single county from exposure, I think it would make national news," said Keim, 46, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Arizona.

"Whoever is willing to listen, if the temperature reaches a certain figure, we're going to say that there's this X, Y or Z risk for crossing the border," he added. "We're hoping it will provide a probability of death for the day so that people can say there is a 50-50 probability that at least one or more crossers will die if they cross the border."
Chicago Tribune

Anti-immigrant activists oppose Keim's plan on the grounds that it amounts to "aiding and abetting" illegal activity.

Barbara Coe, an activist who's conducted civilian patrols of the border in Arizona and elsewhere with the Minuteman Project, excoriated Keim's proposal as "criminal."

"That's called aiding and abetting," said Coe, also founder of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform. "Illegal aliens are criminals.

"Nobody wants anybody to die. I can tell you that the blood of these people [is] on the hands of the Mexican government . . . and corrupt U.S. politicians who welcome them to come to our country illegally," she said. "They can save their own lives by staying home."
Chicago Tribune

Other life saving initiatives have been criticized in the past, particularly those of church groups like Humane Borders who put water stations in the desert, with tall flags for easy location and No More Deaths who supply medical aid to migrants injured or suffering from the heat while crossing the Arizona desert.

State and local health officials support Keim's idea, especially as a hotter-than-normal summer is forecast this year. Longtime border area residents know how to avoid triple-digit heat and are more likely to be exposed to a thunderstorm or flood warning than a heat advisory, a Pima County health spokeswoman said. Migrants, however, come from all over Latin America and many may not know how deadly the Sonoran Desert can be, officials said.

…snip…

As the hot season approaches, the Border Patrol is stepping up its year-round Spanish public service announcements in Mexican and U.S. media under a campaign called "No mas cruces en la frontera," which translates to "no more crosses on the border."

"It's a very good idea," Border Patrol senior agent Jim Hawkins of Tucson said of Keim's plan. "I can't endorse what he's doing one way or another. I'm just saying we do the same thing" under the public announcements.
Chicago Tribune

As the season of increased death approaches, the debate over the program is bound to heat up as restrictionists like Coe and her minutemen friends attempt to block any attempt to save lives and prevent suffering in the scorching desert along the southern border.

Related from Migra Matters:
"US border policy increases migrant deaths 20-fold in Arizona desert" Feb 2007

"Border fence boondoggle, it's more than just the cost" Jan 2007

"Walking in the footsteps de los fantasmas" June 2006

"Meet the "most dangerous" people on our southern border" Jan 2006

"A Must Read Story" Jan 2006

tags: immigration, AZ , migrant death, heat index

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Immigration News Roundup: March 5 – March 11

This week one story dominates above all others – Increased immigration raids. A major raid in New Bedford, Mass left over one hundred children parentless after federal agents arrested over 300 mostly female immigrants at a military equipment manufacturer. While this story garnered national attention, not only for its scope but its aftermath, a myriad of other smaller raids took place all over the country. This week's roundup looks at those raids – just one more week in what's becoming a government war on the undocumented.

• Ten Arrested at Arizona Construction Company


• Immigration agents arrest 11 in raid on party rental company in San Diego


• 36 Arrested in Indiana


• Thirty arrested in San Francisco Area Tuesday


• Second day of immigration raids includes Novato and San Rafael


• Immigration Raids: Feds Say Local Sweep is ‘Ongoing’-30 Arrested in Santa Fe


• Dozens Arrested in Missouri on Immigration Charges


• Seven arrested in Sioux Falls, S.D.


• Officials net 363 immigrants in recent New Jersey raids


• 350 are held in immigration raid in New Bedford

Ten Arrested at Arizona Construction Company

TUCSON - Federal authorities on Friday raided a construction company in southern Arizona accused of breaking the law by hiring illegal immigrants, arresting the firm's president and several employees on federal charges and detaining 10 undocumented workers.
…. Scores of agents fanned out in Sierra Vista and Douglas Friday morning, raiding the company's offices, a foreman's home, the home of a suspected counterfeiter and eight worksites.
Arizona Republic

Immigration agents arrest 11 in raid on party rental company in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, (AP) --Federal agents raided a party rental company Thursday and arrested 11 workers on immigration violations, authorities said.

Nine of those detained worked for Raphael's Party Rentals, a long-established business that did work on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. Two others worked for another party rental company.

The company handles shows, golf tournaments and other events on the base, just north of downtown San Diego, according to owner Philip Silverman. He said he did not know whether any of the people who were arrested had worked on the base.
San Francisco Chronicle

36 Arrested in Indiana

MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- Juan Ruiz de Leon knew there might be an immigration raid on Janco Composites after another worker was arrested for allegedly using someone else's Social Security number to get her job.

His 20-year-old daughter, Carmen Ruiz, said he thought about quitting.

"He'd been there so long. He decided to take a chance," she said.

Her father was one of 36 workers arrested during a raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the factory Tuesday where Fiberglas-reinforced plastic products are made.
Indianapolis Star

Thirty arrested in San Francisco Area Tuesday

Federal agents arrested at least 30 alleged illegal immigrants in San Rafael and Novato Tuesday and Wednesday during immigration raids, authorities said.

In response, scores of other undocumented immigrants skipped work and kept their children home from school out of fear they too would be detained, community leaders said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lori Haley confirmed that agents were conducting arrests in San Rafael and Novato but would not say how many people had been picked up.
San Francisco Chronicle

Second day of immigration raids includes Novato and San Rafael

Federal immigration officers were back in San Rafael and Novato Wednesday to make another round of arrests.

San Rafael police received a call from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the largest investigative branch of the Department of Homeland Security, about 5 a.m. indicating they would be making additional arrests, said San Rafael police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher.
Marin Independent

Immigration Raids: Feds Say Local Sweep is ‘Ongoing’ - 30 Arrested in Santa Fe

A raid by federal agents that sparked panic in Santa Fe’s immigrant community last week and resulted in 30 arrests is over for now, but an immigration official said agents could be back in town anytime.

“This is an ongoing, daily effort,” said Leticia Zamarripa, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in El Paso. “This was not a one-time deal.”

The raid angered officials in a city known for its pro-immigrant stance. Mayor David Coss called the sweep “an attack on our town” and said the city was still trying to piece together what happened. That included trying to figure out who was arrested and deported.
Santa Fe NewMexican

Dozens Arrested in Missouri on Immigration Charges

JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- Dozens of suspected illegal immigrants were taken into custody after an investigation at Missouri's state capitol.

The two-month long investigation by local law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) found that Sam's Janitorial Service allegedly employed dozens of suspected illegal workers.
KHQA-7

Seven arrested in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Seven Mexican nationals were arrested Wednesday in Sioux Falls, accused of being in the country illegally.

At least five of them worked at Inca, a restaurant near West 41st Street and Holly Avenue, said Tim Counts, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Counts said ICE agents used search warrants to arrest five men and one woman at the restaurant at 11 a.m. Wednesday, then removed another man from an apartment two blocks to the east.

It's unclear whether the business owners could face criminal or civil penalties.
ArgusLeader

Officials net 363 immigrants in recent New Jersey raids

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced this week they had picked up 363 immigrants in New Jersey in a series of recent raids. The arrests were part of a nationwide ICE operation called Return to Sender, in which immigration agents have been enforcing orders of deportation, picking up fugitives with criminal records, and detaining immigrants here illegally, according to an agency spokesman.
New Jersey Media Group

350 are held in immigration raid in New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD -- Hundreds of immigration officers and police descended on a New Bedford leather goods factory yesterday , charged top officials with employing illegal immigrants, and rounded up 350 workers who could not prove they were in the country legally.
Boston Globe

tags: immigration, immigration raid , DHS, deportation

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More death threats for Arizona legislators.

For the second time in a month an Arizona state legislator has received a threatening letter after opposing anti-immigration advocates.

"I never thought that I would fear for my safety or the safety of my family when I took a seat in the Arizona House of Representatives," said Rep. Bill Konopnicki, "None of us should fear for our safety or of those we love."

Arizona Republic

The Safford Republican recently urged his colleagues to show some restraint when imposing business regulations intended to curb illegal immigration, and believes the letter was sent in connection with the issue.

Pausing several times to maintain his composure during a floor speech to fellow representatives, Konopnicki said that there was a "poisonous atmosphere" surrounding immigration and implored House Speaker Jim Weiers "to make this stop." Despite the threats, he said he would not be intimidated, adding, "We need to vote our conscience."

But this was not the first time an Arizona state Representative was threatened over pending legislation involving immigration.

In January, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema faced threats of everything from death to rape when she sponsored House Bill 2286 that would have outlawed border vigilante groups like the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.

The bill, defeated earlier this month, would have made it a felony punishable by 18 months in prison for citizens to patrol for "illegal activity" when armed with a firearm or other weapon.

The bill had little chance of passing in the Republican controlled legislature, but Sinema, a longtime immigrants rights advocate, proposed it anyway.

What followed the introduction of the bill only proved Sinema's assertions that such groups attract the fringe elements of society. After the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps issued a press release criticizing her bill, hate e-mails started pouring in. "This is the really frightening extreme part of our community," Sinema said.

This particular proposal caught the attention of Minuteman members and their supporters, however. Word immediately went out over Internet message boards and blogs.

…snip…

The e-mails piled up quickly, many of them not only expressing disagreement but threatening Sinema with everything from death to rape.

"The nature of what they were saying was scary," she said, "One wanted to kick me in the uterus until I couldn't have children. Others have all kinds of really lewd and awful threats. There's not even this shared respect for another human being that you may disagree with."

…snip..

The state Department of Public Safety has worked with her over the threats, and when an unidentified package turned up at her office Jan. 22, the building was evacuated. (It turned out to be nothing.)

This wasn't driven by the media," Sinema said. "This came from the Internet. And I've got to tell you, it happens very, very quickly. And it goes in all kinds of crazy directions. There is an article out there saying that I'm in cahoots with a Mexican drug cartel. Stuff like that. It's insane. And, yes, if the goal of these people was to scare me, it worked."

Arizona Republic

No one should really be surprised when deviants like this resort to threats and intimidation. It's the bread and butter of their "movement", whether it's running around the desert trying to catch "border-crossers," standing at the local home improvement center shouting at passing cars, or threatening legislators who oppose them… It's all about intimidation and threats of violence.

They honestly believe they can bully their way into power.

If only they can shout loud enough, tell enough lies, spread enough hate, and scare enough people into submission, they believe they can force the American people into eventually accepting their warped, racist worldview. Like the brownshirts before them, these modern thugs with all their media contacts and favorable right-wing press, are nothing more than street bullies with delusions of grandeur.

Ironically the bill sponsored by Rep Sinema was reference titled "Domestic Terrorism "… a title that apply describes anyone who would try to subvert the democratic process with threats of death and rape.


tags: immigration, minutemen , Kyrsten Sinema, Bill Konopnicki

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US border policy increases migrant deaths 20-fold in Arizona desert

In the mid-nineties US policy towards Mexico changed in two significant ways that eventually set the stage for the current "immigration crisis." In January 1994, NAFTA went into effect and a new era of prosperity and progress was to begin in Mexico. At the same time, a new strategy was enacted along the southern border intended to stem the flow of unauthorized migrants. The policy of “prevention through deterrence” involved quintupling border-enforcement expenditures, building new fortified checkpoints, high-tech surveillance, and deploying thousands of additional Border Patrol Agents. Additionally, border barriers were built along portions of the California and Texas border to prevent migrants from entering through the most highly trafficked urban areas.

More than a decade later it's become evident that the promises of these two policies, rather than bringing economic change to Mexico and decreasing unauthorized migration to the US, have led to conditions that more than doubled the flow of immigration….and brought added death to the border.

NAFTA, while bringing trade and investment to Mexico, has had unintended negative consequences on both sides of the border for working people and the poor. Whole segments of the US manufacturing sector have been relocated to Mexico resulting in job loss for US workers. At the same time, the lifting for trade restrictions in Mexico have allowed cheaper US commodities to enter the country, decimating Mexican agricultural markets and throwing millions of small farmers out of business. Additionally, the availability of even cheaper labor sources in places like China has forced manufacturing wages to go down.

As for the policy of "prevention through deterrence", all it has really accomplished in the past thirteen years is a movement of the routes of migration from relatively safe urban areas like San Diego and El Paso to the hostile desert and mountainous regions where enforcement is difficult. This "funneling effect" of forcing migrants into least hospitable areas has had devastating effects for those on both sides of the border. A new study just released by the University Of Arizona examined the consequences of shifting migration patterns from California and Texas to Arizona and found it had increased migrants deaths by 20-fold.

The failures of NAFTA to bring prosperity to Mexico are well documented. It's moved 19 million more Mexicans into poverty, forced more than a million small farmers off the land due to the lifting of restrictions on cheaper US subsidized agricultural products, lowered real wages, and in the end forced "millions …to abandon their native homelands. Entire indigenous nations -- the Zapotecs, the Mixtecs, the Tzotzil Maya -- have moved by the tens of thousands, creating the largest migration of Native American peoples in North America since the Trail of Tears in the late 19th century."

While trade policies have brought suffering to the poor of Mexico, border policies have brought death.

Migrant Deaths Increase

Since 1994, between 2000 and 3000 migrants have died trying to cross the inhospitable regions left unsecured after numerous security measures like "Operation Hold the Line", "Operation Safeguard", and "Operation Gatekeeper" were put in place - 1000 of those in Arizona.

A study just released by the Binational Migration Institute (BMI) of the University of Arizona’s Mexican American Studies and Research Center looks at the effects of the "funneling effect" by compiling data on those who perished trying to cross the Arizona desert in the Tucson Sector.

A national border enforcement strategy that funneled illegal immigrants through Southern Arizona from Texas and California led to a dramatic increase in illegal-entrant deaths in Southern Arizona, according to a University of Arizona study released Wednesday.

The study by the Binational Migration Institute — paid for by in part by the Pima County Board of Supervisors — is not the first to reach that conclusion. Last year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that Arizona accounted for at least 78 percent of the increased Southwestern border deaths between 1990 and 2003.

But the UA study is the most detailed examination of known border deaths in Southern Arizona to date, said Melissa McCormick, a senior research specialist with the institute, which studies issues related to human rights and immigration as part of the university's Mexican American Studies and Research Center.

Among the unusual aspects of this latest study is that it is based on a detailed examination of more than 900 autopsy reports from the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office from 1990 to 2005. Previous studies had based their research on vital statistics from death certificates, which don't account for all illegal-entrant deaths since unidentified deaths are assumed to be U.S. citizens, McCormick said.

Arizona Star

(BMI) has undertaken a unique and scientifically rigorous study of all unauthorized border-crosser (UBC) deaths examined by the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office (PCMEO) from 1990-2005

…snip…

Because the PCMEO has handled approximately 90 percent of all UBC recovered bodies in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, an analysis of such deaths serves as an accurate reflection of the major characteristics of all known unauthorized border-crosser deaths that have occurred in this sector since 1990.

…snip…

The BMI study was designed specifically to measure this “funnel effect” created by U.S. immigration-control policies. The BMI study found that there has been an exponential increase in the number of UBC recovered bodies handled by the PCMEO from 1990 to 2005.

BMI’s findings unambiguously confirm previous evidence that U.S. border-enforcement policies did create the funnel effect and that it is indeed the primary structural cause of death for thousands of unauthorized men, women, and children from Mexico, Central America, and South America who have tried to enter the United States. During the “pre-funnel effect” years (1990-1999), the PCMEO handled, on average, approximately 14 UBC recovered bodies per year. In stark contrast, during the funnel effect years (2000-2005), on average, 160 UBC recovered bodies were sent to the PCMEO each year. Over 80 percent of the unauthorized border-crosser bodies handled by the PCMEO have been under the age of 40, and there is a discernable, upward trend in the number of dead youth under the age of 18. There also has been a statistically significant decrease in the number of recovered bodies of unauthorized border-crossers from northern Mexico and a significant increase in the number of such decedents from central and southern Mexico.

American Immigration Law Institute

Yet, despite the obvious failures of these two policies, policymakers insist on using them as a model for future programs. NAFTA has been replicated in the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) passed by Congress in 2005 and similar trade agreements with Panama, Columbia and Peru, based on the NAFTA model are now pending in Congress.

As for relying on increased border security measures as a deterrent to unauthorized migration – it's become the cornerstone of Republican immigration reform policy.


The Human Cost

Lost in all the discussion of "unauthorized border crossers" and the death in the desert are the stories of those who never completed their journeys only to become statistics in any of the myriad of studies and reports on the topic.

For instance there is the story of Antonio Torres Jimenez, a long-time Tucson resident, whose body was found in the desert in May of 2006:

Antonio Torres Jimenez perished while coming back into Tucson from Mexico. After the Border Patrol ended their search, Torres’ friends continued to look for him (24 people fanned out across the desert to find their friend). They found him in less than 24 hours

The reason Torres went back and forth across the border illegally?

“A couple of years after Torres earned permanent residency, his eldest daughter died in Mexico…. Torres returned to La Loma [Mexico] to be with his wife and remaining children. When he came back to his construction job in Tucson, he learned that he’d violated the terms of his green card because he stayed in Mexico too long. He lost his legal status…. With few jobs back home, Torres continued living and working in Tucson. Torres’ wife and children stayed behind and he would travel to see them” (LoMonaco 6/3/06).

Binational Migration Institute

Or the story of Lucrecia Dominguez Luna:

Fifteen-year-old Jesus Abran Buenrostro Dominguez memorized the silhouette of Baboquivari Peak as his mother lay dying on the desert floor.

If he could remember where they were, maybe he could get help. His mother, 35-year-old Lecrecia Luna Dominguez, died before he had the chance.

Now all he wants is the chance to find her body and bring her home.

Home is the small village of San Martin Sombrerete in Zacatecas. Jesus' father works in Texas, and it was hoped the family could reunite. They crossed with Jesus' 7-year-old sister Nora. When Luna Dominguez fell ill on the third day of the journey, the group of village friends they were traveling with continued on with Nora. Jesus stayed behind to be with his mother.

"She kept begging me to go on without her, but I couldn't leave her," Jesus said.

Tucson Citizen

When she lost consciousness, Jesus struck out alone to try to find emergency help. Three days later, Border Patrol agents found him lost, wandering and disoriented in the desert. Although Jesus was dehydrated, in shock, suffering from heat exhaustion and terrified about his mother's status, the agents gave him a little water and then left him at the federal line in Nogales, a practice known as "expedited removal." Once there, Jesus placed a frantic call to his grandfather for help.

ePluribus Media

Cesario Dominguez, Lucrecia’s father, spent weeks searching the Altar Valley for her remains. The humanitarian-aid group No More Deaths assisted him; Border Patrol officials helped for only one day. Miraculously, Cesario eventually came upon his daughter’s skeletal remains, recognizing her three rings. “What was left was that hand with those rings, there in the sand,” said her father.

Binational Migration Institute

These stories and thousands more just like them are the reality behind the statistics. Lucrecia Dominguez Luna is but one of the women whose death accounts for the two-thirds increase in female migrant deaths in recent years. She is one of the 61% of all migrants who die of exposure; up from 39% from the period before the funnel policies went into effect. … But she was also someone's wife, daughter, and mother. How did Lucrecia's last moments pass?

Luis Urrea in his book Devil’s Highway describes what death from “exposure” really entails:

Your heart pumps harder and harder to get fluid and oxygen to your organs. Empty vessels within you collapse. Your sweat runs out....Your temperature redlines ---you hit 105, 106, 108 degrees. Your body panics and dilated all blood capillaries near the surface, hoping to flood your skin with blood to cool it off. You blush. Your eyes turn red: blood vessels burst, and later, the tissue of the whites literally cooks until it goes pink, then a well-done crimson. Your skin gets terribly sensitive. It hurts, it burns. Your nerves flame. Your blood heats under your skin. Clothing feels like sandpaper. Some walkers at this point strip nude. Originally, BORSTAR rescuers thought this stripping was a delirious panic, an attempt to cool off at the last minute. But often, the clothing was eerily neat, carefully folded and left in nice little piles beside the corpses. They realized the walkers couldn't stand their nerve endings being chafed by their clothes.

Once they're naked, they're surely hallucinating. They dig burrows in the soil, apparently thinking they'll escape the sun. Once underground, of course, they bake like a pig at a luau. Some dive into sand, thinking it's water, and they swim in it until they pass out. They choke to death, their throats filled with rocks and dirt. Cutters can only assume they think they're drinking water. Your muscles, lacking water, feed on themselves. They break down and start to rot. Once rotting in you, they dump rafts of dying cells into your already sludgy bloodstream. Proteins are peeling off your dying muscles. Chunks of cooked meat are falling out of your organs, to clog your other organs. They system closes down in a series. Your kidneys, your bladder, your heart. They jam shut. Stop. Your brains sparks. Out. You're gone. [3]

ePuribus Media

As policymakers in Washington mull over the newest proposals for increasing foreign markets for US products, discuss the merits of the global economy and the free movement of capital, or the need to build more walls and barriers along the southern border to prevent the flow of the economic migrants caused by these policies ….do they think of Antonio Torres Jimenez or Lucrecia Dominguez Luna dying terrible deaths in the desert? Do they think of the thousands of others who have come before them or the thousands more to come in the future?

We will never know the stories behind each an every one of the 3000 migrant deaths that have occurred along the border. No one will tell us about their individual decisions to make the arduous journey, or the grief of family and friends when they didn't survive. In fact, for many migrants, the details of their deaths will always remain nameless, faceless statistics.

But thanks to the work done by the University of Arizona we can at least attach names to roughly one thousand of those who never completed the journey to el Norte.

Perhaps they should be read aloud in the halls of Congress each time a new trade or immigration policy is debated ….maybe then policymakers might think about the human cost of their actions.

**WARNING WHAT FOLLOWS CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES OF MIGRANT DEATHS…NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL READERS**

Deceased Unauthorized Border Crossers
Processed & Identified by the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office, 1990-2005

(A “Doe” designation following a name means that the decedent was initially unidentified)

1990
Date Found Name Age
5/1/1990 Martinez, Carlos 52
5/7/1990 Carrillo, Miguel Angel/ Doe #20 29
6/71990 Guerrero-Chavez, Juan/ Doe #31 30
7/7/1990 Cardena, Luis Gonzalez 40
7/21/1990 Ortiz, Ruben Corona UNKNOWN
10/18/1990 Coronel-Zazueta, Jose 26

1991
Date Found Name Age
7/15/1991 Hernandez-Morales/ Doe #43 52
8/16/1991 Martinez, Juan C. UNKNOWN

1992
Date Found Name Age
7/2/1992 De Leon, Faustino N. Gomez 17
11/14/1992 Zavala, Raul Reyes 29

1993
Date Found Name Age
1/12/1993 Lopez-Ibarra, Juan Andres 33
6/18/1993 Ayala-Ventura, Juana Elena 25
8/2/1993 Hernandez, Odilon Lopez/ Doe #34 22
8/5/1993 Perez, Adan Rublero 31
10/14/1993 Cardoza-Lopez, Jesus Antonio UNKNOWN
11/19/1993 Rodriguez-Ramirez, Jesus Eberto 18
11/26/1993 Salcido, Gilberto Urquijo 19
12/2/1993 Rodriguez, Antonio Infante 23

1994
Date Found Name Age
7/26/1994 Martinez-Garcia, Alfonso 44

1995
Date Found Name Age
1/17/1995 Alvarez-Guadarrama, Rodolfo 48
3/9/1995 Lugo-Castro, Luis Enrique 24
5/20/1995 Martinez-Ibarra, Alejandro 27
11/4/1995 Alvarez-Salcedo, Rafaeal 38
12/21/1995 Cortez, Carmen Aguilar 45

1996
Date Found Name Age
2/9/1996 Padilla-Ortiz, Jose Humberto 59
6/15/1996 Olivas-Cebreros,Gonzalo 34
6/15/1996 Olivas-Cebreros, Arcenio 29
6/15/1996 Soto-Munoz, Antonio 20
6/16/1996 Guicho-Almeida, Sergio 31
6/16/1996 Mazoraqui-Lopez, Jose 32
6/21/1996 RAMIREZ-TAPIA, DAVID 27
6/25/1996 Cardenas-Salazar, Jesus 35
7/3/1996 Montero-Torres, Enrique 19
10/18/1996 Acosta-Franco, Jorge Arturo 27

1997
Date Found Name Age
3/4/1997 Celso Mendoza Rodriguez 32
3/19/1997 Melvin Osorio 21
3/20/1997 Isaias Marcilino Ordones-Vasquez 24
3/24/1997 Juan Jose UNKNOWN
3/27/1997 Pedro Sandoval Estrada 32
7/1/1997 Roberto Urbano Torres 54
7/11/1997 Jose Nava UNKNOWN
8/17/1997 Paola N Salazar 12
8/17/1997 Antonia C Garcia 35
8/17/1997 Nadia Ahumada 12
8/17/1997 Everardo G Ahumada 10
8/17/1997 Marcela G. Mendez 23
9/21/1997 Jose Luis Cano-Velasquez 36
9/21/1997 Juan Robles-Palencia 25
9/21/1997 Teresa Arreola Raya 28
12/14/1997 Oscar Pena Moreno 32

1998
Date Found Name Age
5/3/1998 Joel Orlando Ibarra Lugo 21
6/28/1998 Rosa Cardenas 23
7/13/1998 Juvenal Silva-Ramirez UNKNOWN
7/14/1998 Rene Hernandez 18
7/25/1998 Sonja Soto-Escalante 17
7/28/1998 Ana Claudia Villa Herrera 17
7/29/1998 Miguel Angel Vasquez Godinez 23
8/20/1998 Elidia Martinez-Macario 27
8/23/1998 Rolando Morales Solano 28
9/2/1998 Arturo Acosta Soto 27
9/9/1998 Antonio Renteria Martinez 26
9/20/1998 Jose Martin Molina Panuco 23

1999
Date Found Name Age
2/14/1999 Telesforo 42
4/4/1999 Hector Lopez Carrizoza 30
4/5/1999 Cesar Ramos Fernandez 44
5/15/1999 Martin Ortega-Campos 33
6/15/1999 Ramon J Gonzalez Salazar 51
6/17/1999 Cuahtemoc Lavin Valentin 45
6/17/1999 Hector Lavin Martinez 25
6/24/1999 Jose Guadalupe Llaninto-Villalobobs 35
7/4/1999 Aaron Moises Delgado Lopez 18
7/7/1999 Alejandro Felix Barraza 19
7/21/1999 Roberto Ramirez-Ramirez 47
7/24/1999 Manuel Artalejo 19
8/1/1999 Carmen Margarita Martinez 19
9/19/1999 Veronica Nadia Lopez Munoz 21
10/26/1999 Olivio Claudio Velazquez-Perez 53
11/11/1999 Modesto Santos-Flores 20
11/23/1999 David Maldonado Quijada 29




2000
Date Found Name Age
1/22/2000 Tomas Mateo Nicolas 17
2/5/2000 Maria Del Rocio Candia-Bravo UNKNOWN
2/5/2000 Natali Enriquez-Hipolito UNKNOWN
2/5/2000 Luis Roberto Morales Avenado UNKNOWN
2/5/2000 Emma Montecarlo Castillo 40
2/14/2000 Isidro Digno Gamez 40
2/29/2000 Delia Moreno Perez 24
3/6/2000 Vicente Gonzalez-Ramirez 46
3/6/2000 Alfredo Uvieta Dominguez 34
3/7/2000 Jose Ines Diaz Gonzalez 18
3/20/2000 Gerardo Nevarez Gallegos 26
3/23/2000 Jose Luis Rojas Inigo 30
3/30/2000 Carlos Miguel Gonzalez Corona 17
4/5/2000 Angel Selvas Ruiz 34
4/14/2000 Zenon Resendiz Nieto 27
4/16/2000 Herlindo Martinez-De Jesus 28
4/27/2000 Eusebio Garcia-Perez 33
5/9/2000 Marina Montano Mercado 26
5/18/2000 Jose Angel Adrian Mendoza Mendoza 40
5/21/2000 Hector Guadalupe Sanchez-Murrieta 22
5/23/2000 Fermin Aguilar Rabadan 34
5/29/2000 Yolanda Gonzalez Galindo 19
5/30/2000 Maria Cruz-Ruiz 45
5/30/2000 Maura Zacarias Sanchez 31
5/31/2000 Juana Medina Butanda 41
5/31/2000 Juan Manuel Acosta Rojas 28
6/1/2000 Enrique Soto Pacheco 19
6/3/2000 Oscar Cervantes-Melquiadez 19
6/3/2000 Froylan Flores-Hernandez 32
6/3/2000 Hugo Sanchez Acevedo 18
6/5/2000 Jose Guadalupe Rico-Sanchez 35
6/5/2000 Guillermina Herrera Guzman 26
6/6/2000 Mainor Gerardo 23
6/7/2000 Enedina Torralba-Martinez 26
6/14/2000 Mario Calderon Jimenez 10
6/14/2000 Eutiquio Dorentes Marin 45
6/15/2000 Laura Vargas Ortiz 22
6/19/2000 Pedro Basulto Neri 20
6/26/2000 Jose Manuel Leos 36
6/28/2000 Antonia Mendez Mendez 16
7/7/2000 Modesta Perez-Pacheco 45
7/24/2000 Victor Manuel Blas-Vargas 29
7/24/2000 Mauro Garcia Martinez 31
7/27/2000 Raul Lopez-Sachez 25
8/9/2000 Demetrio Velez Garcia 25
8/15/2000 Amador Cazares-Sanchez 22
8/23/2000 Miguel Angel Chiguil-Arres. 14
8/29/2000 Rigoberto Alvarado Garcia 24
8/29/2000 Omar Alfredo Cerna-Giraldo 20
8/29/2000 Herlinda Infantes-Mejia 28
9/3/2000 Paula Isela Romero-Palacios 23
9/5/2000 Isaura Bibiana Medina Paredes 25
9/12/2000 Fortino Herrera-Gervasio 24
9/12/2000 Juventino Merida-Fuentes 52
9/21/2000 Norma Leticia Herrera-Navarro 21
9/29/2000 Olivia Vallarta-Coronado 32
10/28/2000 Angel Ledesma-Raya 43
10/31/2000 Jose Luis Lopez-Martinez UNKNOWN
11/12/2000 Juan Pinacho-Rodriguez 26

2001
Date Found Name Age
5/9/2001 Fernando Cruz-Mendoza-Cruz 31
5/17/2001 Alicia Adela Sotelo-Mendoza 46
5/23/2001 Felipe Sanchez-Najera 53
5/24/2001 Lorenzo Hernandez-Ortiz 34
5/24/2001 Raymundo Barreda-Landa 15
5/24/2001 Reyno Bartolo-Fernandez 37
5/24/2001 Mario Castillo-Fernandez 25
5/24/2001 Enrique Landeros-Garcia 30
5/24/2001 Raymundo Barreda-Maruri 54
5/24/2001 Julian Ambros-Malaga 24
5/24/2001 Alejandro Marin-Claudio 28
5/24/2001 Arnulfo Flores-Badillo 42
5/24/2001 Edgar Adrian Martinez-Colorado 23
5/24/2001 Sergio Ruiz-Marin 23
5/24/2001 Efrain Gonzalez-Manzano 24
5/24/2001 Heriberto Badillo-Tapia 18
6/1/2001 Daniel Beltran-Rojas 24
6/1/2001 Armando Rosales-Pacheco 25
6/3/2001 Buenaventura Ayala-Zamora 45
6/8/2001 Roberto Bautista Lopez 19
6/11/2001 Anastacio Lopez-Guerrero 38
6/16/2001 Martin Espinoza-Cruz 40
6/18/2001 Adela Salas-Perez 30
6/19/2001 Guadalupe Octaviano-Nieto 21
6/20/2001 Enrique Mendoza-Castillo 42
6/22/2001 Rosario Sanchez-Rogel 45
6/25/2001 Lauro Barrio-Dominguez 23
6/26/2001 Jose Romero-Luna 43
6/30/2001 Maria Dolores Espinoza-Morales 31
7/2/2001 Alvaro Segovia-Garcia 22
7/2/2001 Julio Cesar Garcia-Soto 23
7/2/2001 Francisco Carreles-Camacho 26
7/2/2001 Alejandro Gutierrez-Hernandez 46
7/7/2001 Alberto Maldonado-Viveros 30
7/11/2001 Esteban Duran-Aburto 31
7/12/2001 Carlos Armando Bustamonte-Garcian 22
7/13/2001 Jorge Alonso Mirelles 24
7/14/2001 Juana Martinez-Miranda 26
7/15/2001 Andrea Alcantar-Cruz 24
7/20/2001 Abel Gonzalez-Dominguez 34
7/24/2001 Hermila Romero-Carreon 29
7/30/2001 Lugarda Iracema Martinez-Jiminez 19
8/1/2001 Petra Veronica Tenorio-Soto 30
8/7/2001 Santiago Pacheco-Ramirez 43
8/22/2001 Dalvin Eugenio Urbina-Kirk 21
8/29/2001 Didier Villanueva-Garcia 27
9/2/2001 Catalina Ventura-Mendoza 43
9/2/2001 Irene Gutierrez-Hernandez 35
9/4/2001 Lizbeth Juarez Riofrio 23
9/11/2001 Mateo Gaspar-Vargas 43
9/21/2001 Lydia Dimas-Tellez 27
9/25/2001 Graciela Alvarado-Hernandez 28
11/5/2001 Heriberto Nunez-Robles 25
11/25/2001 Casimaro Torres 38
11/28/2001 Ernesto A Gutierrez-Ramirez 16
11/28/2001 Jose Garcia 24

2002
Date Found Name Age
1/6/2002 Cesar Leobardo Arguellas-Herrera 30
1/8/2002 Maria Luisa Leticia Lozano-De La Rosa 32
1/27/2002 Tomas Molina-Perez 35
2/18/2002 Martin Martinez-Grijalva 38
2/19/2002 Carlos Garcia-Aguirre 25
2/20/2002 Castulo Salazar-Ontiveros 54
2/24/2002 Domitila Mondragon Alvarado 38
3/11/2002 Miguel Fructuoso-Hernandez 44
3/15/2002 Miguel Ochoa-Gonzalez 39
3/22/2002 Arturo Heras-Espinoza 34
4/7/2002 Jesus Rojas-Villas 35
4/12/2002 Alfonso Hernandez-Hernandez 23
4/12/2002 Victor Diaz-Acevedo 29
4/12/2002 Claudio Martinez-Cortez 34
4/18/2002 Martin Moreno-Montero 45
5/7/2002 Juana Gonzalez 26
5/7/2002 Alonso Caloca-Vargas 27
5/19/2002 Jose Lara-Avila 19
5/22/2002 Simeon Diaz De La Cruz 41
5/28/2002 Rene Resendiz-Rodriguez 26
5/30/2002 Salvador De La Paz Macedo 21
5/31/2002 Francisco Javier Trujillo-Ruiz 18
5/31/2002 Rene Rodriguez-Ramirez 22
6/6/2002 Raul De Anda-Lopez 54
6/6/2002 Norma Rodriguez-Amaro 22
6/7/2002 Margarita Rio-Rodriguez 30
6/7/2002 Jaime Rodriguez Gutierrez 25
6/7/2002 Sofia Rubio-Chavez 19
6/7/2002 Antonio Vargas-Torres 24
6/8/2002 Santiago Arcos-Mota 28
6/8/2002 Jose Manuel Raygoza Gil 14
6/8/2002 Maria Guillermina Sanchez-Salto 30
6/8/2002 Alex Sosa-Coba 24
6/8/2002 Paula Hernandez-Tapia 31
6/8/2002 Rogelio Cruz-Cervantes 52
6/9/2002 Arturo Luciano Gomez-Castro 27
6/9/2002 Ricardo Pantaleon-Santiago 18
6/9/2002 Victor Galindo Torres 21
6/10/2002 Luis Fernando Us Tun 18
6/13/2002 Margarito Escoricia-Franco 26
6/14/2002 Arturo Ruiz-Gutierrez 23
6/14/2002 Maria Elena Lopez-Gomez 17
6/16/2002 Adilene Lopez-Moreno 11
6/17/2002 Rafaeal Lopez-Mendez 19
6/18/2002 Santos Fabian Gonzalez-Paredes 21
6/19/2002 Eva Hernandez-Escarcega 31
6/19/2002 Angeles Contreras-Gonzalez 22
6/23/2002 Carlos Valdez-Gortari 46
6/22/2002 Jose Luis Hernandez-Aguirre 25
6/23/2002 Jose Mendez-Gomez 26
6/23/2002 Saul Segura Oliveros 21
6/24/2002 Domingo Lopez-Lopez 20
6/26/2002 Gonzalo Gonzalez-Saldana 34
6/28/2002 Blanca Estela Garcia-Reyes 36
6/29/2002 Ramiro Garcia-Abarca 18
6/29/2002 Mauro Santos-Tolentino 55
7/3/2002 Jose Salazar-Velarde 46
7/3/2002 Blanca Reyna Salinas-Espinoza 23
7/5/2002 Ruben Gonzalez-Miranda 49
7/5/2002 Jesus Torres Santiago 20
7/5/2002 Alejandro Hernandez-Badillo 16
7/9/2002 Cristina Dominguez-Librado 35
7/9/2002 Maximo Barrera-Esquivel 35
7/11/2002 Leonel Tuxpan-Grano 33
7/12/2002 Francisco Javier Roman Olivan 18
7/12/2002 Raul Estrada-Frias 26
7/13/2002 Joel Aguila Hernandez 28
7/14/2002 Ismael Tepox-Gamboa 35
7/14/2002 Eledi Sanchez-Cirilo 41
7/18/2002 Maria Dolores Moreno-Trejo 10
7/18/2002 Dolores Trejo-Ramirez 53
7/21/2002 Alberico Cordova-Robledo 43
7/21/2002 Oscar Irineo-Santillan 18
7/21/2002 Maria De Jesus Ruiz Garcia 31
7/22/2002 Jesus Balandran-Hernandez 43
7/27/2002 Damaso Rosales-Zamudio 27
8/4/2002 Juan Manuel Dominguez Quintero 33
8/8/2002 Jorge Antonio Yin-Cervantes 28
8/8/2002 Jaime Artega-Alba 22
8/8/2002 Adalberto Lopez-Zuniga 37
8/9/2002 Panfilo Murillo Aguilar 28
8/10/2002 Mirabel Munoz-Bustos 22
8/10/2002 Claudia Patricia Oqunendo-Bedoya 40
8/10/2002 Elizabeth Hahuatzi Martinez 36
8/11/2002 Roberto Rodriguez-Rodriguez 14
8/11/2002 Francisco Tovar-Frausto 41
8/11/2002 Mari Carmen Serapio-Xaltenco 19
8/14/2002 Alejandrina De La Soledad Felix Sanchez 23
8/15/2002 Leandro Bautista Alba 58
8/15/2002 Enriqueta Martinez-Velasquez 46
8/16/2002 Jose Alonso Pulido 43
8/17/2002 Juana Santa Cruz Garcia 34
8/17/2002 Conrado Negrete-Venegas 39
8/26/2002 Eugenio Reyes-Gonzalez, Doe 94 48
8/27/2002 Alfredo Escobar-Lopez 37
8/28/2002 Alma Del Cruz-Lopez 25
8/31/2002 Jesus Humberto Ballesteros-Ortiz, Doe 98 17
8/31/2002 Pablo Hernandez-Espinoza 27
8/31/2002 Hipolito Hernandez Santiago 38
9/1/2002 Luis Bernardo Rodriguez-Tuyub 15
9/3/2002 Gilberto Menendez Gutierrez 33
9/4/2002 Alfaro Marquez-Campos 22
9/4/2002 Cecilio Cabrera-Pedro 37
9/5/2002 Maria De La Cruz Magana-Hernandez 20
9/5/2002 Maria Elena Morales-Sierra 45
9/5/2002 Jose Carlos Wicab-Chable 15
9/5/2002 Omar Sanchez Guevara 26
9/6/2002 Raquel Diaz Sarabia 34
9/9/2002 Jose Luis Rodriguez-Coronel 42
9/9/2002 Victor Manuel Talavera Figueroa 27
9/14/2002 Victor Hugo Davila-Ehuan 24
9/14/2002 Juan Rodriguez Sanchez 24
9/16/2002 Franklin Silva 30
9/16/2002 Jose Luis Vergara Flores 38
9/20/2002 Abel Martinez Faustino 17
10/11/2002 Carlos Garcia Bravo 18
10/16/2002 Jose Guadalupe Juarez Lopez 40
10/25/2002 Armando Saldivar-Flores 39
12/4/2002 Alejandro Lopez Lopez 48
12/25/2002 Rosa Mercedes Cano Dominguez 31

2003
Date Found Name Age
1/4/2003 Oscar Borbon Mendoza 34
1/25/2003 Jose Antonio Perez Rubio 16
2/11/2003 Felipe Antonio Villafana-Rosario 33
2/11/2003 Ricardo Ibarra Tellez 43
2/11/2003 Elia Perez-Ramiez 38
2/11/2003 Reyna Mercedes Peguero Sanchez 30
2/11/2003 Amalia Ortiz-Licona 22
2/14/2003 Cesario Ruiz-Cortez 54
2/15/2003 Gonzalo Gomez-Gomez 42
4/3/2003 Celso Villa Mexico 18
4/13/2003 Antonio Mora Martinez 38
4/26/2003 Pedro Bautista Stillborn
4/22/2003 Juan Jeronimo Altamirano 33
4/25/2003 Mariano Duran-Saucedo 40
5/1/2003 Gabriel Torres-Alcala 47
5/3/2003 Octavio Lopez Felix 24
5/17/2003 Jose Lopez Cardenas 35
5/21/2003 Jose Andres Aguayo Contreras 30
5/22/2003 Jose Luis Rodriguez Tavarez 38
5/23/2003 Jose Refugio Del Angel Ferral 42
5/23/2003 Francisco Chavez-Mojica 40
5/24/2003 Fidel Velasquez Perez 17
5/24/2003 Josefina Martinez Sanchez 40
5/25/2003 Jose Avila 64
5/27/2003 Martin Gallegos Perez 28
5/27/2003 Guillermo Federico Sanchez-Lomeli 27
5/29/2003 Luis Miguel Villa Castillo 20
5/29/2003 Jose Ignacio Sanchez Chaparro 43
5/29/2003 Avelino Andres Cabrera Gonzales 43
5/29/2003 Teresa Velasquez 16
5/29/2003 Jose Alberto Lozano Martinez 31
5/29/2003 Genaro Rosales-Martinez 26
6/1/2003 Matias Juan Garcia Zavaleta 29
6/2/2003 Roberto Torres Ramirez 28
6/3/2003 Rene Olvera-Medina 60
6/8/2003 Mario Gonzalez-Hernandez 45
6/12/2003 Elizabeth Sanchez Acosta 25
6/14/2003 Maria Cristina Hernandez Perez 2
6/14/2003 Clemen Aguilar-Izaguirre 24
6/16/2003 Jorge Aburto-Zamorano 38
6/17/2003 Sergio Mejia Perez 26
6/18/2003 Natividad Carlota De Leon Maldonado 37
6/29/2003 Eliseo Vargas Luna 29
7/1/2003 Keila Madai Velazquez-Gonzalez 15
7/1/2003 Adrian Diaz Dionicio 35
7/2/2003 Isabel Lucrecia Paxtor Morales 22
7/3/2003 Nivercino Rodrigues Da Silva 39
7/3/2003 Antonio Alvarez Solorzano 50
7/4/2003 Pedro Xochicale Tlapalcoyoa 21
7/7/2003 Hermina Fuentes-Sanchez 29
7/8/2003 Maria Florinda Xum Chan 30
7/9/2003 Nora Huertas-Hernandez 19
7/10/2003 Antonio Sanchez Montoya 32
7/12/2003 Antonio Rolon Hernandez 27
7/13/2003 Ermeria Jeanette Martinez Matias 31
7/13/2003 Maria Guadalupe Cayetano Cornelio 19
7/14/2003 Carlos Rojas Morales 24
7/14/2003 Maria De Los Angeles Contreras-Rojas 18
7/15/2003 Maria Guadalupe Vasquez Saavedra 21
7/15/2003 Fortino Vasquez Garcia 41
7/17/2003 Sergio Benitez Hernandez 38
7/16/2003 Esteban Salvador Sanchez Rojas (Doe #73) 29
7/16/2003 Enrique Antonio Lopez Alcantar 18
7/19/2003 Esequiel Vargas Mora 33
7/20/2003 Mauricio Salas Guerra 38
7/21/2003 Agustin Hernandez-Jimenez 23
7/21/2003 Ofelia Maria Garcia Chavaloc 33
7/21/2003 Maria Josefa Tax Hernandez 37
7/21/2003 Amado De Jesus De Jesus 28
7/22/2003 Martin De Jesus Bernabe 19
7/25/2003 Miguel Rodriguez-Marentes 56
8/7/2003 Flora Maria Reyes-Cruz 16
8/9/2003 Alfredo Gundino-Ruiz 22
8/9/2003 Cruz Fabela Munoz 44
8/10/2003 Juan Reyes Luna (Doe #94) 42
8/10/2003 Jose Fernando Martinez-Fuentes 31
8/13/2003 Wilmer Germain Quintanilla 26
8/12/2003 Manuel De Jesus Sanchez 25
8/14/2003 Ilda Roblero Roblero 23
8/15/2003 Juan Antonio Nila Valdivia 20
8/17/2003 Jose Manuel Gomez Cruz 16
8/17/2003 Nicolas De Jesus Garcia Ventura (Doe #103) 55
8/18/2003 Jaime Monroy Gamino (Doe #104) 28
8/18/2003 Victor Manuel Placencia Basilio 27
8/20/2003 Lorenzo Lopez Diaz 21
8/26/2003 Lucio Hernandez-Hernandez 25
8/27/2003 Carlos Ramon Bejarno Cruz 24
8/27/2003 Efrain Castro Ramirez (Doe#109) 50
8/30/2003 Antonio Garcia Gomez 28
8/30/2003 Ruben Garcia Gamino 21
8/30/2003 Miguel Cruz-Laurel (Doe#113) 57
9/1/2003 Miguel Diaz-Garcia 25
9/2/2003 Miguel Ernesto Guardado Flores 19
9/2/2003 Raymundo De Jesus Rodriguez Tobar 33
9/2/2003 Transito Guzman Escobar 35
9/8/2003 Ana Cruz-Garcia 31
9/9/2003 Willian Oswaldo Valle Alfaro (Doe 121) 20
9/13/2003 Juan Carlos Rico Orihuela 19
9/15/2003 Rolando Arce Valenzuela 24
9/18/2003 Nahum Martinez Solano 24
9/20/2003 Rafael Martinez Ruiz 34
9/22/2003 Jorge Rolando Cano Yeh 27
9/23/2003 Rosa Maria Arriaga Castillo 22
10/18/2003 Edgar Miguel Pucek 23
10/21/2003 Hilda Hernandez Baltazar (Doe #35) 38
10/24/2003 Faustino Berneo Rayon 31
10/25/2003 Daniel Haro (Doe 138) 21
11/4/2003 Nicholas Padilla Reyes 20
11/4/2003 Agustin Rita-Santos 40
11/4/2003 Isidro Gutierrez Reyes (Doe #144) 36
11/4/2003 Jose Manuel Alcon Villa (Doe #145) 26
11/24/2003 Valentin Estrada Bejarano (Doe#150) 38
11/30/2003 Andres Campana-Gonzalez (Doe#152) 30
12/1/2003 Altagracia Marbella Tapia-Guillen 21



2004
Date Found Name Age
1/16/2004 Jose Marco Antonio Zavala 27
2/10/2004 Adrian Garnica Altamirano 20
2/10/2004 Eleuterio Guzman Hernandez 43
2/17/2004 Sotero Gomez Viveros 25
2/21/2004 Maria Lucia Martinez-Nava 26
3/2/2004 Carlos Castro Llescas 36
3/2/2004 Rolando Perez Vazquez 37
3/17/2004 Juan Loenel Lizarraga-Vizcarra 27
3/19/2004 Leopoldo Vazquez Hernandez 19
3/20/2004 Jaime Gonzalez Pablo 17
3/21/2004 Gabriel Ortega Flores 27
3/20/2004 Antonio Tirado Rodriguez 43
3/24/2004 Diana Raquel Garcia Velasco 19
3/24/2004 Dagoberto Solis De Coss 36
3/24/2004 Margarito Aguillares Hernandez 26
3/25/2004 Maria Del Carmen Sabino Garcia (Doe #12) 30
3/25/2004 Raul Ramos Chavez 19
4/3/2004 Jesus Esquivel Santiago 26
4/3/2004 Rosario Munoz Berrelleza 36
4/3/2004 Reynael Cortinez Roblero 24
4/4/2004 Fortino Soto Armenta 28
4/4/2004 Rodrigo Miranda Rivera 35
4/9/2004 Norma Moreno Hernandez 30
4/12/2004 Francisco Javier Acosta Sandoval 37
4/20/2004 Tomas Soto Granados 43
4/20/2004 Reyes Campos Zalazar 42
4/20/2004 Carlos Molina Torres 33
4/28/2004 Fidelina Bravo De Marzan 42
5/1/2004 Mario Alberto Rodriguez Perez 25
5/3/2004 Jose Ruiz Bravo 40
5/4/2004 Alvaro Ramos De Castilla 21
5/9/2004 Maria Fabiola Paloma-Rios (Doe 15) 18
5/14/2004 Francisca Alicia Flores Guifarro 42
5/15/2004 Jose Juan Pacheco Salazar 25
5/19/2004 Carlos Caballero Gonzalez (Doe #61) 27
5/22/2004 Santos Martin Perez-Perez (Doe #59) 26
5/22/2004 Carmen Avila Vargas (Doe #17) 22
5/30/2004 Armando Mendoza 27
5/30/2004 Pascual Perez Funez (Doe #62) 38
6/2/2004 Jose Lorenzo Quintanilla 24
6/2/2004 Arnelio Serrano Portillo 39
6/2/2004 Jose Maria Aquino (Doe #65) 21
6/5/2004 Maria Cristina Salinas Gonzalez (Doe #19) 19
6/7/2004 Sofia Beltran Galicia (Doe 20) 21
6/8/2004 Carlos Alberto Argueta Lezma (Doe #71) 42
6/10/2004 Mario Soto Trejo (Doe #72) 30
6/10/2004 Emilio Leon Dominguez 24
6/11/2004 Marcelo Infante Pereyra (Doe #73) 28
6/12/2004 Jose Angel Miranda Escobar 22
6/13/2004 Julian Mayor Arbelaez (Doe #77) 20
6/13/2004 Olivo Martinez- De La Cruz 34
6/15/2004 Rosa Viviana Torres Corona (Doe #22) 26
6/16/2004 Emelia Perez Santiago 45
6/16/2004 Leopoldo Menedz Murrieta 20
6/17/2004 Leodan Vinicio Cabrera Sanchez (Doe #78) 20
6/17/2004 Manuel Luis Ramirez Herrera (Doe #67) 40
6/18/2004 Jaime Roberto Ortega Orellana (Doe #80) 26
6/18/2004 Angel Alberto Lizarraga Prado 26
6/18/2004 Isaac Melo Mejia (Doe #81) 26
6/18/2004 Adalberto Bello Encarnacion (Doe #82) 34
6/21/2004 Jovita Martinez Agudo (Doe #23) 42
6/24/2004 Raquel Hernandez-Cruz (Doe #24) 23
6/24/2004 Isaias Juan Galvez Perez (Doe #84) 28
6/29/2004 Jorge Armando Say-Pacay (Doe #86) 32
7/3/2004 Ismael Gomez Herrera (Doe #87) 22
7/3/2004 Maricruz Farias-Amador (Doe #25) 24
7/3/2004 Blanca Estela Ferreyra Vidal 34
7/7/2004 Paulina Morales-Exiquio (Doe #26) 20
7/7/2004 Nancy Navarrete Hernandez (Doe #27) 26
7/9/2004 Maria De La Luz Florez Martinez (Doe #28) 30
7/9/2004 Librado Tolentino-Velasco (Doe #89) 47
7/9/2004 Mario Alberto Diaz Ponce (Doe #88) 36
7/10/2004 Oscar Belerrabano Hidalgo 26
7/11/2004 Julio Cesar Romero-Espargo (Doe #90) 23
7/12/2004 Marcos De La Cruz Sandoval 18
7/12/2004 Luis Armando Cataldo-Escorza (Doe #92) 21
7/14/2004 Maria Raimunda Ribeiro Silva (Doe #30) 53
7/19/2004 Salvador Andres Gonzalez Leyva (Doe #96) 28
7/20/2004 Sergio Cabrera Hernandez 26
7/22/2004 Ofelia Vicente Ixmai (Doe #33) 28
7/23/2004 Omar Francisco Ortiz Camacho 18
7/26/2004 Jesus Hernandez-Lopez 23
7/26/2004 Aurelio Rios Venegas (Doe #100) 51
7/26/2004 Veronica Duenas Ramirez 33
7/29/2004 Pablo Gerardo Lazaro (Doe #102) 24
7/31/2004 Rosa Pena Ocampo (Doe #37) 38
8/3/2004 Francisco Javier Sanchez Aguilar 31
8/5/2004 Luis Cisneros Ventura (Doe #105) 63
8/7/2004 Albertano Herrera Liborio (Doe #106) 25
8/10/2004 Maria Carina Cortes Portillo 50
8/12/2004 Madilio Gutierrez-Perez 20
8/15/2004 Manuel Batalla Gonzalez (Doe #110) 35
8/20/2004 Gustavo Adolfo Gonzalez Cruz (Doe #112) 17
8/22/2004 Jesus Roman Garcia (Doe 114) 35
8/25/2004 Jose Cruz Adame Zavala (Doe #115) 38
8/29/2004 Aurora Cuamba Magallon 32
8/30/2004 Jose Alfredo Garcia Martinez 31
8/30/2004 Enrique Morales Flores 44
9/1/2004 Pedro Alejandro Valencia Pinedo (Doe #119) 24
9/2/2004 Telesforo Santos Arroyo 38
9/2/2004 Victor Manuel Coyoy Sum (Doe #120) 51
9/5/2004 Olaf Avila Gonzalez (Doe #123) 19
9/7/2004 Leonardo Plata-Escamilla 41
9/8/2004 Jose Trinidad Alcocer Martinez (Doe #124) 37
9/14/2004 Abel Salina Cortes 17
9/14/2004 Humberto Hernandez-Hernandez 35
9/14/2004 Jose Narciso Hernandez-Ledesma 13
9/14/2004 Usterlin Trancito Mazariesgos Vazquez/Doe 125 27
9/15/2004 Dante Roldan Flores (Doe #126) 18
9/25/2004 Casildo Almaraz-Hernandez (Doe #130) 41
9/28/2004 Alejandro Rangel Luna 27
9/28/2004 David Orozco Romo 20
9/28/2004 Miguel Dominguez Juarez 34
10/13/2004 Gregorio Martin Garcia-Cardenas 38
10/23/2004 Felipe Yanez Gonzalez (Doe #146) 15
10/29/2004 Octavio Ortiz Martinez (Doe #153) 44
11/2/2004 Leobardo Contreras Rodriguez (Doe #155) 33
11/12/2004 Emilio Solis Trinidad (Doe #156) 33
11/14/2004 Jose Salomon Guitierrez-Lopez (Doe #159) UNKNOWN
11/26/2004 Miguel Hernandez Hernandez 43
12/2/2004 Maria Varela Dominguez (Doe #48) 41
12/7/2004 Martin Diaz Lopez (Doe #165) 29
12/27/2004 Josefina Jimenez Jeronimo (Doe #51) 42
12/30/2004 Julio César Moreno 55

2005
Date Found Name Age
1/8/2005 Raziel Elhiu Bolanos Sanchez (Doe #4) 23
1/10/2005 Rosendo Martinez Ramirez 34
1/27/2005 Antonia Andrea Moran Aviles 34
1/31/2005 Raul Soto Vidales (Doe #10) 30
2/10/2005 Michelle Acosta Gonzalez 16
2/11/2005 Roberto Viguerillas-Valenzuela 49
2/14/2005 Maurilio Piceno Garcia (Doe #14) 28
2/19/2005 Julio Cesar Yanez Ramirez (Doe #16) 31
2/28/2005 Francisco Chavarria Zamora 47
2/28/2005 Vicente Montes-Medrano 25
3/1/2005 Leonardo Ruiz Bautista 22
3/20/2005 Angel Rafael Calixtro-Celaya 26
3/21/2005 Rolando Estrada Lamas 35
3/23/2005 Rigoberto Cifuentes Arredondo 33
3/27/2005 Abel Matias-Francisco (Doe #26) 25
4/9/2005 Heriberto Echeverria Caballero (Doe # 32) 18
4/11/2005 Jose Antonio Paredes Leon (Doe #35) 46
4/13/2005 Gualberto Felix Caro (Doe #38) 26
4/13/2005 Moises Rojas Laparra (Doe #39) 20
4/14/2005 Estela Tenorio (Doe #7) 21
4/21/2005 Jose O Benavidez (Doe #46) 32
4/22/2005 Isabel Cano Galvez (Doe #8) 17
4/23/2005 Agustin Maldonado Cazarez 21
5/4/2005 Margarita Guerra-Escalera (Doe #9) 42
5/14/2005 Juan De Jesus Rivera Cota 16
5/18/2005 Mario Alberto Esquivel Lopez 21
5/21/2005 Marco Antonio Nunez Tapia 27
5/21/2005 Maria Trinidad Tamal Civil (Doe #10) 42
5/22/2005 Carlos Morales De Jesus (Doe #59) 27
5/22/2005 Luis Arturo Justo Tapia 30
5/23/2005 Dionisio Cristobal Candelario 40
5/23/2005 Melchor Barcenas Mariscal 37
5/23/2005 Jose Ramiro Nicolas Francisco 15
5/24/2005 Eduardo Zamarripa Olivas 35
5/25/2005 Sergio Martinez Ramirez (Doe #63) 37
5/26/2005 Eddie Humberto Villanueva Fuentes (Doe #65) 18
5/26/2005 Pablo Gonzalez-Villanueva (Doe #66) 20
5/27/2005 Patricia Morales Calderon 32
5/28/2005 Fernando Limas Garfias (Doe #68) 31
5/29/2005 Jose Refugio Perez Lopez (Doe #75) 53
5/29/2005 Jose Vizueth Gonzalez (Doe #69) 19
5/29/2005 Oscar Valdovinos Neri (Doe #70) 35
5/30/2005 Jorge Gomez Chacon (Doe #71) 38
5/26/2005 Manuel Perez De La Cruz 18
6/2/2005 Reynaldo Olivares Gonzalez (Doe #74) 45
6/12/2005 Jorge Carballo Orozco (Doe #77) 50
6/17/2005 Jose Luis Zacarias De La Cruz (Doe #81) 31
6/21/2005 Eugenio Rafael Cazares Aguilar (Doe #84) 38
6/22/2005 Jaime Zamora Venegas (Doe 84) 31
6/25/2005 Juan Carlos Rodriguez (Doe 87) 28
6/28/2005 Ruben Trejo Carrera 43
6/29/2005 Alejandro Palomar Campos (Doe #91) 33
6/30/2005 Rusbel Cano Lopez (Doe #92) 28
7/2/2005 Hector Carbajal Martinez 26
7/3/2005 Marco Antonio Gutierrez Roblero (Doe #94) 27
7/4/2005 Laura Rios Garcia 19
7/4/2005 Beatriz Adriana Sanchez Salazar 26
7/5/2005 Luis Miguel Morales Hernandez 24
7/6/2005 Natalia Noclas Martinez 21
7/7/2005 Julio Cesar Garcia-Ralda (Doe #96) 21
7/7/2005 Luz Maria Galindo Castrejon (Doe #17) 32
7/7/2005 Jose Eusebio Arias Arias 38
7/7/2005 Rene Mejia Andres (Doe #95) 19
7/8/2005 Ana Maria Rojas Fragoso 39
7/7/2005 Jose Gabriel Gaytan Vazquez 20
7/9/2005 Benjamin Melecio Ramirez 48
7/10/2005 Estela Bautista Vasquez 38
7/10/2005 Maria Del Carmen Martinez-Dominguez (Doe #20) 42
7/11/2005 Esteban Salazar Hernandez (Doe #103) 46
7/11/2005 Jesus Hernandez-Hernandez 23
7/12/2005 Lucia Gregorio Maldonado (Doe #22) 33
7/12/2005 Irma Epianio Pasion (Doe #21) 29
7/12/2005 Jorge Javier Roldan 50
7/12/2005 Erica Rojas Garcia 20
7/13/2005 Patricio Perez Perez 32
7/13/2005 Eunice Diaz Velazquez 17
7/13/2005 Edilberta Anzurez Rivera 21
7/13/2005 Delfina Coatl Osorio 23
7/13/2005 Gil Tovilla Morales (Doe #105) 42
7/13/2005 Moises Marquez Flores 39
7/14/2005 Rufina Antonieta Tantas Botiquin (Doe #24) 35
7/15/2005 Alejamdro Hernandez Mata 24
7/15/2005 Juan Pablo Dominguez Borgez (Doe #106) 29
7/15/2005 Maria Rudy Aguilar Santiz 22
7/16/2005 Luis Arturo Martinez Lorenzana 12
7/16/2005 Isidrio Hernandez Navarro (Doe #108) 27
7/17/2005 Josefina Cruz Aguilar (Doe #27) 31
7/17/2005 Martin Resendis Panzo (Doe #116) 24
7/18/2005 Nelson Eduardo Aguistin Raymundo (Doe #111) 15
7/18/2005 Alfanza Delfino Tapia 30
7/18/2005 Yesmin Francisca Diaz Perez 19
7/18/2005 Maria Velasco Bautista 24
7/18/2005 Jose Victor Calderon Morales 32
7/18/2005 Maximino Barriento Carajal (Doe #112) 27
7/19/2005 Rigoberto Garcia Romero 23
7/21/2005 Jose Alfredo Martinez Melendez (Doe #117) 35
7/23/2005 Lucresia Dominguez Luna 35
7/26/2005 Jessica Elizabeth Jimenez 18
7/27/2005 Ernesto Perez Sanchez (Doe #123) 27
7/30/2005 Gerardo Moreno Cisneros 25
7/30/2005 Adan Perez Lopez (Doe #124) 24
7/31/2005 Roberto Ward Valenzuela (Doe #125) 24
7/31/2005 Jose Luis Estrada Morales (Doe #126) 50
7/31/2005 Carlos Armando Pena Cortez 30
8/1/2005 Juan Manuel Echevarria Linarte (Doe #127) 35
8/1/2005 Luis Alberto Juarez Perez (Doe #129) 16
8/1/2005 Juan Perez Santiago (Doe #128) 14
8/12/2005 Justino Menedez Ramos 25
8/16/2005 Jose Guadalupe Navarro Esquivel (Doe #134) 25
8/20/2005 Nicacio Perez Lopez (Doe #140) 43
8/20/2005 Claudeth Dilean Sanchez Urbina (Doe #34) 22
8/21/2005 Pedro Gonzalez Vargas (Doe #138) 46
8/28/2005 Reginaldo Mendoza Perez (Doe #145) 36
9/2/2005 Cristhian Rene Felix Arvallo (Doe #148) 19
9/3/2005 Jose Antonio Hernandez UNKNOWN
9/6/2005 Jaime Vega Torres 54
9/10/2005 Gregorio Mariano Dolores 23
9/11/2005 Fausto Donaciano Bernal Lemus 51
9/11/2005 Martin Martinez Serrano (Doe #153) 29
9/19/2005 Baby Boy Arizaga 0
9/20/2005 Rafael Fidencio-Ortega 36
9/24/2005 Martin Garcia-Garcia 18
9/24/2005 Eduardo Corrales Vega (Doe #161) 18
9/26/2005 Ricardo Vazquez Aguilar (Doe #162) 47
9/26/2005 Luiz Carlos Barbosa (Doe #165) 36
9/30/2005 Eduardo Sanchez Gomez (Doe #159) 17
10/6/2005 Fulgencio Montalvo Mendez 28
10/13/2005 Eusebio Luna Mar (Doe #171) 37
10/18/2005 Raul Torres Flores (Doe #173) 31
11/3/2005 Constantino Vasquez Alvarez (Doe #180) 57
11/19/2005 Francisco Javier Bracamontes 32
11/21/2005 Ruben Garcia Lopez (Doe #191) 27
11/24/2005 Ismael Gamez Diaz (Doe #193) 24
12/1/2005 Jose Manuel Casimiro Juarez 37
12/4/2005 Francisca De La Cruz Lopez (Doe #45) 36
12/20/2005 Ismael R Silerio (Doe #202) 26

BMI

MORE INFORMATION

2006 Report on Migrant Deaths at theU.S.-Mexico Border: El Paso-New Mexico Border Region 2006, BNHR.org

BMI - "The 'Funnel Effect' & Recovering Bodies of Unauthorized Migrants Processed by the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, 1990-2005"

GAO - "Border-Crossing Deaths Have Doubled Since 1995; Border Patrol’s Efforts to Prevent Deaths Have Not Been Fully Evaluated"

HOW YOU CAN HELP

No More Deaths

Humane Borders

Border Action Network

2007 International Conference on the Migrant

tags: immigration, migrant deaths , NAFTA, border security

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Immigration News Roundup: Feb 5 - Feb 11, 2007

As immigration related news flies past pretty fast and furious at times, I figured it might be helpful to do a weekly recap of some of the more significant or over-looked stories from the week past.

Welcome to the first installment of Immigration News Roundup:

• Immigration Debate Fuels Resurgence of KKK


• California Citrus Town Wants Undocumented Migrants to Stick Around


• Government Gives Media Tour of T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center


• Three Migrants Killed: Third Border Attack in Two Weeks


• Panel Says Government Mishandling Asylum Seekers


• DHS Office of Inspector General Releases Report on Case of Two Border Patrol Agents

Immigration Debate Fuels Resurgence of KKK

The Anti-Defamation League released on Tuesday a report on the resurgence of the Klu Klux Klan that has resulted from the debate over immigration.

The League, which monitors the activities of racist hate groups and reports its findings to law enforcement and policymakers, has documented a noticeable spike in activity by Klan chapters across the country. The KKK believes that the U.S. is "drowning" in a tide of non-white immigration, controlled and orchestrated by Jews, and is vigorously trying to bring this message to Americans concerned or fearful about immigration.

"If any one single issue or trend can be credited with re-energizing the Klan, it is the debate over immigration in America," said Deborah M. Lauter, ADL Civil Rights Director. "Klan groups have witnessed a surprising and troubling resurgence by exploiting fears of an immigration explosion, and the debate over immigration has, in turn, helped to fuel an increase in Klan activity, with new groups sprouting in parts of the country that have not seen much activity."

Anti-Defamation League

Related: The Charlotte Observer interviews Imperial Wizard of KKK.

The Imperial Wizard of the Mount Holly-based chapter of the Klan in Gaston County says he has not seen membership grow so fast since the 1960s, when he joined.

"People are tired of this mess," said Virgil Griffin, 62. "The illegal immigrants are taking this country over."

...snip...

Griffin is known for his participation in the 1979 Greensboro clash that started as an anti-Klan rally. Five people were killed. The Klan members said they fired their guns in self-defense and were acquitted.

Griffin, who met the Observer in a Mount Holly park with three members of his security team, recounted 1960s Klan rallies when dozens, sometimes hundreds, marched through towns such as Mount Holly, Salisbury and Wilmington.

"We were strong in the '60s," he said. "We're not that strong now. We're hoping to get there."

Immigration is the No. 1 issue among the younger members, he said.

Edward Fincher, 21, a colonel in the Griffin Knights, echoes much of what Griffin says. He worries about illegal immigrants taking over. He's worried about his two kids being forced to learn Spanish in school and it's getting more difficult to find work.

Griffin wouldn't disclose how many members his chapter has, but the Southern Poverty Law Center says most chapters have between 10 and 40 members.

Griffin said he sends members throughout the region to recruit at stores, flea markets and military bases.

California Citrus Town Wants Undocumented Migrants to Stick Around

The packing houses here in the heart of California's citrus belt are generally hopping the first week of February.

…snip…

But by mid-April, when the good fruit runs out, all activity, from picking to trucking, will stop, and there will be no more work until late October. If workers leave town — and if those who stay are jobless — the city's economy will collapse.

Seeking to avert an economic meltdown, officials have come up with an innovative plan to not only address joblessness but to keep the workforce from abandoning the town. Invoking the memory of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Depression-era Works Projects Administration, the city's elected officials — all of whom are Republicans — are seeking federal aid to put the idle labor force to work on local improvement efforts.

…snip…

Lindsay Mayor Ed Murray says the worst-case scenario is that the town could lose up to 30% of its labor force. "Regardless of whether they're legal or illegal, it's imperative that we have workers here for next year's harvest," he said. Murray hopes that the federal government will find a way to not only aid his town's residents in the short term but to legalize the undocumented.

LA Times

Government Gives Media Tour of T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center

Responding to complaints about conditions at the nation’s main family detention center for illegal immigrants, officials threw open the gates on Friday for a first news media tour.

…snip…

It now holds about 400 illegal immigrants, including 170 children, in family groups from nearly 30 countries, Mr. Mead said. He called it a humane alternative to splitting up families while insuring their presence at legal proceeding

New York Times

Related:
American-Statesman
Dallas Morning News
Houston Chronical
Mother Jones

Three Migrants Killed: Third Border Attack in Two Weeks

Three illegal immigrants were shot to death, three were wounded and others were missing Thursday near Tucson after gunmen accosted them as they traveled north from the Mexican border, the authorities said.

The shootings came a day after gunmen in ski masks and carrying assault-style rifles robbed 18 people who had illegally crossed the border 70 miles to the south, near Sasabe. On Jan. 28 a man driving illegal immigrants from the border several miles from the scene of Thursday’s killings was ambushed and shot to death as the immigrants fled.

New York Times

Related:
ArizonaDaily Star
Chicago Sun Times

Panel Says Government Mishandling Asylum Seekers

A bipartisan federal commission warned on Wednesday that the Bush administration, in its zeal to secure the nation’s borders and stem the tide of illegal immigrants, may be leaving asylum seekers vulnerable to deportation and harsh treatment.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which Congress asked to assess asylum regulations, found two years ago that some immigration officials were improperly processing asylum seekers for deportation. The commission, which also found that asylum seekers were often strip-searched, shackled and held in jails, called for safeguards in the system of speedy deportations known as expedited removal, to protect those fleeing persecution.

New York Times

DHS Office of Inspector General Releases Report on Case of Two Border Patrol Agents

A federal report released Wednesday on the shooting of a suspected drug smuggler by Border Patrol agents concurs with prosecutors that the men committed obstruction of justice by failing to report the shooting, destroying evidence and lying to investigators.

Herald Democrat

Related:
DHS-OIG Report PDF


tags: immigration, immigration news

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