In the Eye of the Desert
President George W. Bush's visit to Yuma, the deployment of half of the
total number of National Guardsmen assigned to the border, the Minutemen
building their own version of a border fence, and the thousands of
undocumented immigrants crossing through the state, are among some the
factors that have positioned Arizona at the center of a demographic and
political hurricane. Arizona’s 389-miles of international border with Mexico,
deemed the “weakest spot” of the entire US-Mexico border by Homeland
Security officials, is indeed the most common corridor along the border for
people coming from Mexico and Latin America seeking to enter the US. More
than 50 percent of the total number of arrests along the entire length of
the 1,950-mile border with Mexico comes from Arizona. In spite of the
increases in manpower and technology to reduce illegal immigration,
securing the border effectively remains an elusive goal.

In 1993, the Clinton administration began to tighten border security. One of
the first steps was to have the Border Patrol obstructing crossing points in
major urban zones. This action brought the focus to cities from San Diego to
El Paso. Before the employment of this tactic, these cities witnessed groups
- Undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for at least five years could receive legal status after
meeting several conditions, including payment of fines and any back taxes, clearing a background check and
learning English. After six more years, they could apply for citizenship without having to leave the United States.

- Undocumented immigrants in the country between two and five years could obtain a temporary work visa after
reporting to a border point of entry. Aides referred to this as "touch base and return," since people covered would
know in advance they would be readmitted into the United States.

- Officials said it could take as long as 13 to 14 years for some illegal immigrants to gain citizenship. In part, that
stems from an annual limit of 450,000 on green cards, which confer legal permanent residency and are a precursor
to citizenship status.  

- Undocumented immigrants in the United States for less than two years would be required to leave the country and
apply for re-entry alongside anyone else seeking to emigrate.
Five Objectives to Achieve an Immigration Reform
On May 15, 2006, President George W. Bush discussed his vision for comprehensive
immigration reform. He outlined five clear goals to achieve this objective.

1. Secure the borders
Securing the borders is the basic responsibility of a sovereign nation and an urgent
requirement of national security. President Bush's proposals to better secure the
borders include increasing the number of Border Patrol agents, ending the practice
of "catch and release" along the southern border, eliminating bureaucratic obstacles
to returning illegal immigrants to their home countries, and sending National Guard
members to the border for temporary assignment to assist the Border Patrol during
the transition as new Border Patrol agents are added and new technology comes
online.

2. A Temporary worker program must be created
The President supports a temporary worker program that would create a legal path
for foreign workers to enter our country in an orderly way, for a limited period of
time. This program would match willing foreign workers with willing American
employers for jobs Americans are not doing. Every worker who applies for the
program would be required to pass criminal background checks, and temporary
workers must return to their home country at the conclusion of their stay.

3. Employers need to account for the workers they hire
Comprehensive immigration reform must include a tamper-resistant identification
card for every legal foreign worker so businesses can verify the legal status of their
employees. This card should use biometric technology, such as digital fingerprints, to
make it tamper-proof. This would leave employers with no excuse for violating the
law, and it would help us enforce the law.

4. Dealing with the millions of illegal immigrants already in the country
President Bush opposes giving illegal immigrants an automatic path to citizenship
because it would be unfair to those who are here lawfully, would compromise the
rule of law, and would invite further waves of illegal immigration. He supports
increasing the annual number of green cards that can lead to citizenship, but for the
sake of justice and security, the President is firmly opposed to amnesty. Deporting
every illegal immigrant is neither wise nor realistic. There is a rational middle ground
between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant and a
program of mass deportation. Those who want to stay should have to pay a
meaningful penalty for breaking the law, pay their taxes, learn English, and work in a
job for a number of years. The President also believes that there are differences
between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently and someone who
has worked here for many years, and has a home, a family, and an otherwise clean
record. Those who meet these conditions should be able to apply for citizenship but
approval will not be automatic, and they will have to wait in line behind those who
played by the rules and followed the law.

5. Honor the American tradition of the melting pot
The success of the United States depends upon helping newcomers assimilate into
the society and embrace the common identity as Americans. Americans are bound
together by shared ideals, an appreciation of the U.S. history, respect for the flag,
and an ability to speak and write the English language.
Contact the Author
of undocumented immigrants simply running into the US. The following year, a new operational concept was
launched. The intent of this strategic move was “to stem the tide of illegal immigrants” wanting to enter the US, and
more important, to shift the flow eastward.

The plan included building a 10-foot-high corrugated steel fence along a 14-mile corridor, from Otay Mountain to the
Pacific Ocean, in San Diego, as well as the eventual construction of more than 100 miles of fencing at major cities
along the border with Mexico. This new method of enforcing the border was labeled "Operation Gatekeeper."

Since its implementation on October 1, 2004, Operation Gatekeeper has reduced the number of border crossers in
the targeted areas and successfully shifted the flow of would-be crossers eastward. The plan to stem the wave of
human beings seeking to enter the country has proven largely ineffective. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s
(CBP) statistics reveal that the numbers of arrests have not substantially increased or decreased in the last 20
years. In 1985, the Border Patrol arrested a total over 1.2 million. Ten years later, in 1995, the number was 1.3
million plus. In 2005, the Border Patrol arrested over 1.7 million immigrants attempting to enter the country illegally.
If the figures haven’t dramatically changed, the dynamics and geographical characteristics of illegal immigration
have.  
Studies conducted by research institutions and universities, estimate that around 500,000 individuals are successful
in entering the country without documents, the same number as in 1993. The striking difference is that the number
of Border Patrol agents tripled to more than 11,000 in the last 12 years. Operation Gatekeeper’s strategic side
effect resulted in the current phenomenon of would-be crossers looking for alternative routes through deserts of
eastern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. This geographical shift boosted business for smugglers, or
“coyotes,” as well as increased both the dangers and the cost for being smuggled into the US. Another
consequence of this is the deadly toll of traveling through the desert: approximately 2,500 individuals have died in
the last ten years. Thus, the gross of human beings attempting to enter the country has shifted to Arizona,
particularly to the Tucson Sector, the most active in the nation, leaving its residents feeling the eroding effects of
uncontrolled immigration.

Not surprisingly, Yuma and the San Luis border –considered the nation's busiest smuggling area, became President
Bush’s spot to reaffirm what he outlined during his national address on May 15, when he announced the need to
“reform America's immigration system.” In Yuma, Bush said “I'm down here to talk about the immigration issue. And
this is an important issue. It really is. It's an important debate our country is having. We need to have -- we need to
secure our border, and we need fair and effective immigration laws.” For a state in such a predicament, the
president’s presence placed the spotlight not only on Yuma, Arizona, but on the fact that in this corner of the
Southwest, unknown in its deep reality to many, one of the most intense problems of the nation takes place. “It's
good to be here in Yuma. I'd never been to Yuma before,” said President Bush. His phrase perhaps can summarize
both the recent and unavoidable emphasis on the border, as well as the inattention that for many years aggravated
the problem of illegal immigration.

The president’s outline on immigration (see box below) seeks not only to tighten the border, but to figure out what
to do with the illegal immigrants already here. Senate Republicans and Democrats in Washington continue to work
around compromise legislation that holds out the hope of citizenship to an estimated 11 million immigrants living in
the United States unlawfully. The projected legislation includes a complex series of provisions:
Bilingual Community Expression
Published by the Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
BARRIOZONA
Text by Eduardo Barraza / Photographs by Eric Draper