Border patrol targets immigrants during fire fight

As the Santa Ana winds whipped wildfires through Southern California, George Bush claimed the U.S. government’s response to this catastrophe would be different from its response to Katrina. While Washington’s response to Katrina resulted in the ethnic cleansing of a large portion of the long-time, African-American residents of the Gulf, in California the victims were mostly Latin@ immigrants.

When victims of the fires evacuated to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, authorities invited a Border Patrol information unit to set up a tent inside the stadium. The presence of a BP van and uniformed BP officers intimidated immigrant families seeking safety.

One night, around midnight, police walked around the stadium asking for identification and proof of residency in an evacuated zone. People without identification were thrown out of the stadium.

Police detained approximately 12 evacuees (at least four were children) who they alleged were “looting” donated blankets, food and toys. The “looting” was later disproved, but the story was carried in the press and the damage was done. The fires gave more fuel to anti-immigrant forces, which used it to demean and deny immigrants basic human necessities.

Many immigrant rights activists noted the similarities to the “looting” stories the corporate press rolled out during Katrina.

“For immigrant families, this is in no way an ‘anti-Katrina’,” said Indymedia reporter José I. Fusté. “Immigrants in San Diego County are being neglected by emergency evacuators, put in danger by their employers, treated rudely by authorities and volunteers, refused aid at evacuation sites, and racially profiled by police and deported by the Border Patrol.” (indybay.org, Oct. 26)

At the stadium, Joana Miss, a Mexican woman whose baby had diarrhea, was given three diapers. However, she reports, “When I was leaving, they gave an American woman a whole box.” (San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 25). Andrea Guerrero, chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Coalition, reported: “There was a mountain (possibly 1,000 bags) of diapers. There was also a mountain of donated items that could have served 10 times the number of people left in the stadium. The whole afternoon, we watched White evacuees take cases of water and other large loads to their cars without being questioned.” (theunapologeticmexican.org, Oct. 27)

Guerrero said that Latin@s were not the only people of color subject to abuse. “An African American woman was harassed for making two trips with a baby stroller filled with items. ... She attempted to register a complaint with the police officer in charge who treated her poorly and refused to process a complaint. ... She was so upset by the end of the day and afraid to leave with anything else. ... A Filipino volunteer who had been helping people day and night was thrown out for making two trips out to cars, both times to assist people to their cars. The officer threatened to tazer him and charge him with trespassing.”

California authorities prevented a solidarity group from transporting critical supplies to immigrants. Greg Morales of Border Angels and the Mexican American Poets Association said that volunteers were turned around near the Tecate crossing of the U.S./Mexico border, and prevented from transporting food and water donations to the immigrant communities that needed them.

Morales told of one volunteer who attempted to take these supplies to Potrero, a rural community in the fire zone near Tecate. Authorities asked him, “Why do you want to go into Potrero? There’s nothing but drug dealers there.” A volunteer able to reach Potrero found many immigrant families in need of supplies and evacuation. (indybay.org, Oct. 26)

According to Enrique Morones, founder and director of Border Angels, employers threatened to fire laborers who refused to work on farms near the smoldering hills.

In a remote, once heavily wooded canyon along the Mexican border, Border Patrol agents found the remains of four immigrants, a woman and three men, who had perished in the fire. Joe Mason, a Border Patrol supervisor, said because the devastation made it difficult to hide in the barren, fire-scorched hills, “It should make our job a little easier.” (Associated Press, Oct. 26).

Immigrant rights activists are still burning with rage at the U.S. government response to immigrants trapped by the conflagrations. The lessons of Katrina, and now the California fires, point to an official apartheid policy denying equal protection and safety to people of color.