No One is Illegal: Fighting Violence and State Repression on the U.S.-Mexico Border PDF
Preview No One is Illegal: Fighting Violence and State Repression on the U.S.-Mexico Border
NO ONE IS ILLEGAL NO ONE IS ILLEGAL Fighting Violence and State Repression on the U.S.–Mexico Border Justin Akers Chacón Mike Davis Photographs by Julián Cardona Chicago, Illinois © 2006 by Justin Akers Chacón and Mike Davis Photographs © 2006 Julián Cardona Published by Haymarket Books PO Box 180165 Chicago, IL 60618 773-583-7884 www.haymarketbooks.org This book was published with the generous support of the Wallace Global Fund. Cover image of a freeway sign near the U.S.-Mexicoborder in San Diego, California. Photo © Joe Klein/Zuma Press. Cover design by Amy Balkin. Printed in Canada LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA Akers Chacón, Justin. No one is illegal : fighting racism and state violence on the U.S.-Mexicoborder / by Justin Akers Chacón and Mike Davis ; photographs by Julián Cardona. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-931859-35-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-931859-35-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Immigrants--Civil rights--United States. 2. United States--Emigration and immigration--Government policy. 3. Alien labor, Mexican--United States--Social conditions. 4. Mexican-American Border Region--Emigration and immigration. I. Davis, Mike, 1946- II. Title. JV6456.A38 2006 304.8'73072--dc22 2006018288 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Preface 7 Part I: “What Is a Vigilante Man?” White Violence in Calfornia History Mike Davis Introduction 11 1. Pinkertons, Klansmen, and Vigilantes 15 2. White Savages 21 3. Yellow Peril 27 4. “Swat a Jap” 33 5. The Anti-Filipino Riots 39 6. The IWW versus the KKK 43 7. In Dubious Battle 53 8. Thank the Vigilantes 59 9. The Zoot Suit Wars 71 10. Beating the UFW 77 11. The Last Vigilantes 83 Part II: Mexico: Caught in the Web of U.S. Empire Justin Akers Chacón Introduction 89 12. Conquest Sets the Stage 99 13. Neoliberalism Consumes the “Mexican Miracle” 109 14. From the Maquiladoras to NAFTA: Profiting from Borders 115 Part III: Mexican Workers: the “Other” American Working Class 15. Mexican Workers to the Rescue 125 16. Segregated Workers: Class Struggle in the Fields 131 17. The Bracero Program: A Twentieth-Century Caste System 139 18. Poverty in the Fields: Legacy of the Bracero Program 149 19. Immigrant Workers Continue to Build America 155 Part IV: The War on Immigrants 20. Immigration Policy as a Means to Control Labor 173 21. The Race and Class Construction of Immigration Restrictions 181 22. Constructing the “Illegal” Mexican Worker: Racism and Mexican Labor 191 23. Immigration Double Standards 197 24. Militarizing the Border: Death Warrant for Migrant Workers 201 25. Inventing an Invisible Enemy: September 11 and the War on Immigrants 215 26. The Bipartisan Segregationists of Labor 227 27. The Right Wing Calls the Shots 237 28. Terrorists on the Border: The Minutemen Stalk Their Prey 249 Part V: ¡Queremos un Mundo Sin Fronteras! 29. Human Rights Activists Confront the Far Right 261 30. Unions and Immigrant Workers 267 31. Making Borders History 277 32. A New Civil Rights Movement 287 Notes 295 Index 327 Preface “Y ou’ve kicked a sleeping giant.” Perhaps no other sign from the million-strong march for immigrant rights that shook Los Angeleson March 25conveys a more precise summa- tion of events unfolding across the country. Or as an activist speaking at a border rally commented, “they weren’t sleeping, they were working!” At the time of this writing, a new civil rights movement for immigrants, involving literally millions of people in cities throughout the United States, is now entering its third month. With a sudden gale force, the debate over immigration politics, historically the domain of big business and the Far Right, has been blown wide open, its contents scattering into the daily discussions of ordinary people. Largely self-organized and self-mobilized, the new movement has drawn out the most affected communities, who are far ahead of the existing organizations that have historically claimed lead- ership in the immigrant communities. This new movement, led by immigrant workers and Latino stu- dents, but pushing the whole working classforward, is now beating on the walls of Congress and demanding equality. Homemade signs at protests from San Diegoto the Brooklyn Bridge, reading, “We are not criminals” and “Amnistía sí”(Amnestyyes), reveal the depths of indig- nation, the willingness to come out of the shadows, and the desire to be seen and heard. In true mass character, all generations are being hit by the ripple effect of such a large-scale movement. A sixth-grader protesting with one hundred thousand others on April 9 in San Diego expressed the mood succinctly: “At school the rich teach us about their 8 NO ONE IS ILLEGAL democracy. Here, we show them ours.”1In a matter of weeks, the move- ment has shifted from a defensive to an offensive posture, and promises to redefine the landscape of American history, with immigrant workers narrating the story. The groundswell was brought to the surface in reaction to passage in the House of the draconian HR 4437(also known as the Sensenbren- nerBill), that, if passed by the Senate, would make felons of immigrants as well as those who help them. This movement has forced the propo- nents of the bill, who had been able to set the tone for the debate over so-called immigration reform, onto the defensive. It has redrawn the parameters of the debate, which had previously been restricted to crimi- nalization on one side, and partial legalization combined with a guest- workerprogram on the other. The movement has cast a spotlight on the struggle of ordinary workers and their families to be treated equally, and with dignity as human beings. Like the great struggles of working people in years past, this move- ment will face many challenges, twists, turns, defeats, and victories. It contains the seeds that make another world possible: one based on working people gaining control over their daily lives, and giving new definition to the term democracy. This book will attempt to lay out the historical and contemporary dimensions of the immigrant rights struggle, focusing primarily on the U.S.-Mexico border and the experience of the working people that cross the border (or have been crossed by it). In the section by Mike Davis, the origins and evolution of the anti-immigrant movement are examined, shedding light on its political, racial, and class origins. I then provide a broader look at the formation of immigration policy in the context of the struggle between capitaland labor. Giving a voice to the experience of immigrant workers is greatly aided by the fact that they themselves are making history as of this writing. It is my hope that this book can serve as a resource and help give confidence to the generation of activists taking initiative in the streets, campuses, and workplaces of the new America. I also hope it provokes a wider discussion and debate about what kind of world we want and need as working people, un pueblo mundial sin fronteras. Justin Akers Chacón San Diego, California May 15, 2006 Part I “What Is a Vigilante Man?” White Violence in California History Mike Davis Victoria Cintra (in the car), Gulf Coast Coordinator for the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance (MIRA), advises un- documented workers in Hangar 216 of the Naval Construc- tion Battalion Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. Some of the 270 workers, including 30 women, contracted by a private company accused its owner of imposing subhuman work- ing conditions at the New Orleans Naval Base. They lived in tents with no water or electricity, food was scarce, they were overworked and underpaid. They were evacuated to Gulfport when Hurricane Rita struck. September 2005.
The list of books you might like
