Frontera NorteSur September-October 2003

US Men "Arrest" Mexicans at Gunpoint on Arizona Street

In what the Border Patrol is referring to as an isolated incident with no links to migrant hunters in other parts of Arizona, three US men using guns and handcuffs detained six Mexicans on a Gadsden, Arizona street just moments after they crossed the border. Four of the Mexicans were minors, ages 16, 10, 8 and 6. Although the event took place on July 31, 2003, news of it did not spread until August 6. 

At least one of the US men, Matthew Paul Hoffman, age 23, was arrested by the Yuma County Sheriff and charged with six counts of aggravated assault and five counts of illegal imprisonment. The other men allegedly involved in the detainment of the Mexicans were Matthew Hoffman's brother, Martin Hoffman, and Alexander Dumas. 

According to an article in the Mexicali newspaper La Crónica, the sheriff's department did not take action against the US men until August 4. A Border Patrol spokesperson explained the delay by noting that the sheriff's department was unsure of how to proceed with the case because of its unusual nature. 

About the event, Hugo René Oliva, the Mexican consul in Yuma, said "We are very worried that armed civilians perform these types of interventions because they are not trained to do so and the incidents could give rise to violence that would put the safety of migrants at risk"

Oliva also told La Crónica that the consulate is trying to make sure that the six Mexicans involved in the incident have everything they need while they remain in the US. The six are currently staying in the US as witnesses. 

Gadsden, Arizona is a town just across the Colorado River from Mexico near Yuma, Arizona and San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora.

In both the US and Mexican press the six Mexicans are being referred to as undocumented migrants although there was no official mention of their immigration status. 

Source: El Diario (Cd. Juárez) and La Crónica (Mexicali), August 7, 2003. 

Mexicali Group Takes Issue of Unsafe Deportation of Minors to the OAS

The case of Mexican minors being deported from the US back to Mexico after dark has gone to the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, says Blanca Villaseñor Roca, the director of the Albergue Juvenil del Desierto (Desert Youth Shelter) in Mexicali. According to Villaseñor, under an accord with the US, Mexican minors are only to be returned or deported to Mexico during daylight hours. 

Villaseñor noted that in March 2003 she and representatives of other groups criticized the nighttime return of minors and pregnant women to Mexico from the US. In April, a letter denouncing the situation was sent to Mexican governmental human rights groups and the Secretariat of Exterior Relations. 

When Villaseñor received no response to the letter, she took the issue to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, part of the Organization of American States (OAS). According to Villaseñor, initial reactions to the situation by the Commission are encouraging. 

Also at the Mexicali press conference where Villaseñor made her remarks was José Moreno Mena, coordinator for the Centro de Derechos Humanos y Educación Cívica (Center for Human Rights and Civic Education). The Centro supports Villaseñor's position on the proper return of minors to Mexico by the US government. 

At the press conference, Mena gave statistics on the return of minors to Mexico during the period January through May 2003. Data from Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Migración (National Migration Institute) show that 14,150 minors were sent back to Mexico through Sonora, 3,137 through Chihuahua, 2,159 through Baja California, 950 through Coahuila and 460 through Tamaulipas. 

Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), July 26, 2003. Article by Mitzi Monge. 

Mexican Program Helps Families Locate Relatives in US

Through its consulates' departments of citizen protection, Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Relations helps families locate relatives that have gone to Mexico's northern border or the US. 

So far in 2003, consular staff based in Mexicali, Baja California have received 50 requests to help locate migrants that have not been in touch with their families, says Patricia Valladares Sánchez, head of citizen protection in Mexicali. This service is one of those that is most frequently requested from her office, Valladares added. 

Valladares estimates that about 20% of the requests her office receives is to find people that have gone to live in Tijuana. The rest of the requests are to find people living in the US, mostly in Los Angeles and San Diego. 

"People come in and gives us information on where the last place the person they are looking for lived in the US. Generally they are fathers or sons of Mexican families that emigrated to the US with the goal of finding better job opportunities," says Valladares. 

The office can search for Mexicans that are in the US both legally and without documents. Valladares states that 30% of the people her office looks for are in the US legally, the other 70% are in the neighboring nation illegally. 

Approximately 90% of the people Valladares looks for are men. So far this year, the whereabouts of only four women have been requested by family members. 

Valladares mentioned that her office receives a stable number of requests every year and that the figure has not appreciably gone up or down over the past few years. 

Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), July 10, 2003. Article by Luis Adolfo San.