No matter which side of the fence you currently stand on, illegal immigration is a hotly debated topic. In November, 32 percent of voters ranked the issue as “very important,” according to a U.S. House of Representatives National Exit Poll conducted by CNN.
Roger Barnett, a resident of Arizona, has been patrolling 22,000 acres along the Arizona-Mexico border for the past two years and strongly opposes illegal immigration. He claims to have captured more than 10,000 illegal immigrants that have publicly crossed not only his land, but also land that he leases from the state. Given the nickname “El Asesino,” which translates to “the murderer” in English, Barnett has also been called a modern-day vigilante.
When I hear the word vigilante, I think about some of my beloved superheroes such as Superman, Batman and Spider-Man. I picture strong, brave men rescuing innocent bystanders such as myself from maniacal villains in elaborate costumes.
I need to change my thinking. I wouldn’t describe any illegal immigrant that I’ve come in contact with as either maniacal or villainous.
Earlier this year, I picked up a group of Hispanics that were standing under Highway 56. They were nice and helped me by moving some of my heavy furniture. I don’t know if they were here legally or not because I didn’t ask them. But I did give them each $40.
Barnett’s actions suggest he does see them as villains.
On Nov. 27, an Arizona jury awarded $98,750 to the Morales family – a Mexican-American family that Barnett terrorized while they were on his land, according to www.splcenter.org. They were deer hunting on some of the land that Barnett leases from the state when he threatened to shoot them with an AR-15 assault rifle if they didn’t get off of his property. He thought they were in this country illegally.
Oops – he shouldn’t have assumed that. It turns out that they were American citizens and had as much right to be on the land as he did.
Vigilantes can only exist in a society where there is weak law enforcement. Barnett is picking up where the enforcers have left off. Based on the verdict of the Morales case, it isn’t OK for Barnett to threaten citizens, but it’s OK that he threatens illegal immigrants because they have no rights in this country. Obviously, no one can tell the difference between citizens and illegal immigrants just by looking at them. I wonder if Batman ever got confused about whom he could and could not help.
As citizens of the United States, do we all have a moral obligation to aid law enforcement? Is this an obligation for all the laws or just the ones we deem important?
Sometimes, I speed while I’m driving. People will watch me speed past them and I’ve even sped past cops – but I remain unpunished. That’s fine because I didn’t hurt anybody.
Illegal immigration, however, has dangerous physical and economical consequences. Despite the laws prohibiting illegal immigrants from being in this country, they’re still taking jobs away from American citizens.
I didn’t give my $40 to people who I knew were legal American citizens. I would have, but none of my friends were willing to waste their Saturday carrying my two sofas and a solid oak desk up and down two flights of stairs. I gave the money to the group of Hispanic men because they did the work for me when no one else would.
But illegal immigration also hurts the immigrants. Border-crossing deaths have increased from 254 in 1998 to 328 in 2004, according to the Government Accountability Office.
This issue is far from being resolved. As long as America continues to be a great place to live, people are going to want to live here.
I know I’m lucky to have been born in a country that people are dying to get into rather than dying to get out of. Even if that means I encounter more men like Barnett and less men like Superman.
-Camille Clasby is a marketing junior.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, major and year in school.
