Petition against "Operation Gatekeeper" advances

MIM, RAIL, and SLALA activists have collected more than 500 
signatures on a petition against "Operation Gatekeeper" and 
for more open borders since April 21, when MIM launched the 
petition campaign.(1)

"Operation Gatekeeper" refers to INS policy militarizing the 
control of civilian traffic across the u.$.-Mexico border It 
involves the construction of a concrete-and-razor-wire 
"Triple Wall" from San Diego 50 miles into the desert, 
arming Border Patrol agents with high-powered rifles and 
night vision equipment, and sending them on what amounts to 
"search-and-destroy" operations looking for people trying to 
cross the border.

Since "Gatekeeper" started in 1994, more than 600 people 
have died trying to cross the border. Most died of exposure 
as INS patrols forced them to cross in very remote areas.

Activists solicited signatures at three thousand- persyn 
rallies: The border action in April 21,(2) a march in Los 
Angeles on Mayday in support of amnesty for some 
undocumented workers, and at the Santa Barbara march for 
"economic justice."(3) Response at these events was 
overwhelmingly favorable. When asked "would you like to sign 
a petition against Operation Gatekeeper," many said "Of 
course!" Some even rolled their eyes as they grabbed the 
pen, as if to say "You had to ask?"

One non-Spanish speaking comrade at the Mayday rally was 
heartened when masses snatched up copies of the petition in 
Spanish and started collecting signatures on their own -- in 
Spanish. 

As for those unfamiliar with the issue, by the time the 
activists got to their closing tag-line -- "Those signing 
this petition agree with us that people should not have to 
risk their lives in order to look for work" -- they always 
signed.

Here is the text of the petition:

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service's military-
style "Operation Gatekeeper" has killed over 600 Mexican 
migrants. This is part of the systematic violence the U.S. 
government uses to restrict people's free movement. The U.S. 
Border separates families, communities, and nations. It also 
keeps Third World workers and farmers under regimes where 
wage rates are drastically depressed through violent 
repression -- this allows the United States to make huge 
profits off of its investments abroad. We the undersigned 
call for an end to "Operation Gatekeeper" and an end to 
policies restricting people's free movement across the 
border.

Here it is in Spanish:

La "Operación Guardián" inciada por el Immigration and 
Naturalization Service (la Migra), con fuertes alineamientos 
militares, ha asesinado a más de 600 migrantes mexicanos. 
La operación es parte de la violencia sistemática que el 
gobierno yanqui utiliza para restringir el libre paso del 
pueblo a su propio territorio nacional, Aztlán. La frontera 
yanqui divide a familias, comunidades y a naciones. 
Mantiene a los obreros y campesinos del Tercer Mundo dentro 
de un régimen dónde las tasas de sueldos son dramáticamente 
desvalorizadas mediante la represión violenta.  Por ende, 
esto permite que los Estados Unidos extraiga enormes 
ganancias de sus inversiones al extranjero. Nosotros los 
firmantes exigimos un fin a la "Operación Guardián" y un fin 
las políticas restringiendo el libre paso del pueblo al otro 
lado de la frontera.


Notes: 1. MIM Notes 233, 1 May 2001. 2. MIM Notes 234, 15 
May 2001. 3. See article on page 3 of this issue.