Spring Break
Immigrants Walk The Line
Documentary Film Raises Awareness Of 'War Zone' Of Immigration On Mexican-American Border
John Bailey
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: Focus
"There is a humanitarian exception to any kind of criminal charges brought against anyone," Fife said.
Mike Wilson, a citizen of the O'odham reservation in the Sonora Desert, works toward the same end. With a pickup truck and coolers of water, he treks across the wasteland to refill water stations for thirsty migrants.
"Nobody deserves to die in the desert," said Wilson as he struggled with an overloaded wheelbarrow full of water jugs.
This humanitarianism strikes a different chord with some, such as Spencer. Aside from his beliefs that the immigration of Mexicans is a subversive takeover of the Southwest, he describes the work of Wilson and Fife as "an act of treason."
The film was mindful to balance the perspectives shown, although the audience couldn't help but scratch their heads at some of the viewpoints. Nervous laughs greeted Casey Nethercott's statement: "You screw with America, you're gonna get shot ... [Other nations] have no morals. "
There are moments that throw the already confused issues into even murkier waters. A migrant group is shown being stopped and sent to Border Patrol by Simcox's militia, and self-described "redneck with a rifle" Richard Kozal described the burns he suffered after gunfire from drug dealers shattered his tea kettle. These scenes are poignant and serve to remind the viewer that there is no clear, immediate end to the problem.
The film, which lasted slightly over an hour, was an enthralling and unnerving look at an issue relatively unknown to many Americans.
The checkpoints, compounds, and men with M-16s bear a striking resemblance to images from the Middle East flashed through the news every day, except these scenes are happening in America. Sadly, little attention seems to be paid to the problem, and after the film the directors described government policy as limited to "giving more money to Border Patrol". The resounding statement of the movie is that this issue needs to enter the public eye.
As stated by an O'odham tribal official, "If this happened anywhere else in America, it would be a crisis."
Contact John Bailey at
John.C.Bailey@UConn.edu.
Mike Wilson, a citizen of the O'odham reservation in the Sonora Desert, works toward the same end. With a pickup truck and coolers of water, he treks across the wasteland to refill water stations for thirsty migrants.
"Nobody deserves to die in the desert," said Wilson as he struggled with an overloaded wheelbarrow full of water jugs.
This humanitarianism strikes a different chord with some, such as Spencer. Aside from his beliefs that the immigration of Mexicans is a subversive takeover of the Southwest, he describes the work of Wilson and Fife as "an act of treason."
The film was mindful to balance the perspectives shown, although the audience couldn't help but scratch their heads at some of the viewpoints. Nervous laughs greeted Casey Nethercott's statement: "You screw with America, you're gonna get shot ... [Other nations] have no morals. "
There are moments that throw the already confused issues into even murkier waters. A migrant group is shown being stopped and sent to Border Patrol by Simcox's militia, and self-described "redneck with a rifle" Richard Kozal described the burns he suffered after gunfire from drug dealers shattered his tea kettle. These scenes are poignant and serve to remind the viewer that there is no clear, immediate end to the problem.
The film, which lasted slightly over an hour, was an enthralling and unnerving look at an issue relatively unknown to many Americans.
The checkpoints, compounds, and men with M-16s bear a striking resemblance to images from the Middle East flashed through the news every day, except these scenes are happening in America. Sadly, little attention seems to be paid to the problem, and after the film the directors described government policy as limited to "giving more money to Border Patrol". The resounding statement of the movie is that this issue needs to enter the public eye.
As stated by an O'odham tribal official, "If this happened anywhere else in America, it would be a crisis."
Contact John Bailey at
John.C.Bailey@UConn.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Glenn Spencer
posted 10/20/07 @ 12:36 PM EST
This is a little dated. Jack Foote hasn't been active on the border since he was arrested in Sierra Vista on Sept. 22, 2004.
As for Nethercott, Front Page Magazine said the following about his run in with illegal aliens in March of 2004. (Continued…)
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