Great post. I absolutely agree with what you say.
As this situation has developed, I keep thinking back to a book I once read and thinking about current legislation being pushed.
Many years ago, I read an excellent book called "The Autobiography of Delfino Cuero." Delfino was a member of the Kumeyaay/Diegueno/Kumiai tribe. Why so many names? Delfino was a member of one of the tribes that lived in the border region and which were split by the border. Delfino describes how some of the tribe ended up on one side and were now Americans (though with no documents since many had no US birth certificates) and how others were now Mexican. She also notes how members of the tribe who went to visit relatives in Mexico were not allowed back in the US because of the lack of documents.
So, past history, right? Not really.
From
http://www.sandiego.edu/lrc/broaderborders/indigenous.htmlIndigenous Peoples on the Border
Indigenous peoples who have been on the North American continent much longer than Mexico, the United States of America and Canada are adversely affected by these countries’ international boundaries.
The Jay Treaty and the Treaty of Ghent protect the right of tribes whose lands are bisected by U.S.-Canadian border to cross between the two countries. The same protection was not explicitly guaranteed to tribes divided by the U.S.-Mexican border. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo separated the Kumeyaay Indians of California from the Kumiai of Baja California. The Gadsden Purchase separated Tohono O'odham and other tribes in Arizona from their relatives in Sonora, Mexico.
For many years, indigenous peoples crossed easily between Mexico and the United States, because they were known to border agents and secured inexpensive border crossing cards. Growing restrictions on immigration to the United States over the last decades have made it more difficult for tribes to maintain cross-border ties. Immigration and customs agents often question the border crossings of tribal members, who may lack the documents and finances necessary for passports and visas.
The Texas Band of Kickapoo Act of 1983 was passed to allow the Kickapoo to cross freely between Texas and Mexico, where they reside. In recent years, the Tohono O’odham, the Cocopah, and the Yaqui people and the Kumeyaay in California have lobbied to secure their rights to travel across their ancestral lands.Here's a link to another good article on the situation:
http://www.americaspolicy.org/borderlines/1999/bl62/bl62oview_body.htmlNative Communities of the Borderlands: An Introduction
Ironic, isn't it? Who are the immigrants here?
Onto the legislation aspect. The House has already passed a vile bill called HR 418.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.r.00418:They attached it (based on an agreement made to Sensenbrenner) to the supplemental budget bill. The Senate is now deciding whether or not to leave it attached (easier to gain passage) or detach it, at which point it would have to be debated on the Senate floor or reattached to something else. HR 418 (aka the Real ID act) has some atrocious parts to it, among them giving the Homeland Security Secretary power ABOVE the law to build barriers and fences along the border (Sec 102), severely restricting the rights of immigrants to gain asylum (Sec 101), empowering bail bondsmen and bounty hunters to pursue, arrest, and detain immigrants (Sec 105) and limiting legal rights to review of the cases (Sec 105, see especially
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17529&c=206).
By capitalizing on people's prejudice, fear and resentment, they are pushing through another bill that limits judicial power, civil and states rights (see the de facto National ID part of the bill (Title II), and basic human rights. If this gets through, the Minutemen are only the beginning. Imagine them with a financial incentive to do this.
edited for typing errors
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