U. of Arizona linked to war on immigrants

University of Arizona President Robert Shelton announced his intention to “transform” the University of Arizona. This Sept. 3 announcement came in the wake of a $20 million budget reduction mandated by the State legislature. His lengthy memo called for “restructuring,” “consolidations” and “becoming more efficient”—all code words for staff layoffs. The $20 million budget cut is part of a whopping $2.2 billion state budget deficit which is 20 percent of the entire state general fund.

Within hours of this announcement, Shelton joined U.S. Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Jay Cohen and Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to announce a $16 million grant from DHS to create the National Center for Border Security and Immigration Research at the university. This money will be used to develop detection, surveillance, sensor networks and other technologies for use in militarizing the Southwest border.

The university is using its proximity to the border to strengthen its ties to the war machine and expand its relations with corporations like Boeing and Raytheon. Meanwhile, it tosses workers aside and raises the tuition for students. While Arizona state cuts back needed social services and prepares to lay off workers in other state agencies, the federal government is handing out millions for scientists to develop new devices for terrorizing and hunting down people.

As the capitalist economic crisis deepens there are more and more towers, surveillance cameras, always-on stadium lights, and brutal ICE and Border Patrol Agents occupying the communities as well as the border areas in this state. These developments show the need for protests to demand that the millions of dollars squandered on technology for repression be used for jobs and human needs, not for war and occupation. In Arizona in particular the militarization of the Southwest border is an issue that directly impacts both documented and undocumented workers and all students.