Human Rights Activist Never Gave Up on Justice for Borderland Region

“The Creator’s finger touched him, and he slept.”
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

Roberto Martinez (72), a lifelong civil and human rights advocate and past director of AFSC’s San Diego-based, US-Mexico Border Program passed away this past Wednesday surrounded by his immediate family and friends. A fifth-generation Chicano, Roberto worked to end the blatant discrimination and racial intolerance he witnessed and that he also challenged. His grandfather was a farm worker who settled in Carlsbad, California in 1915 after leaving Texas.

He became an advocate for immigrant communities and dedicated his life to challenge law enforcement abuse, racial profiling and violations committed against border residents and communities. He also experienced harassment, was apprehended various times in the 50s, and was once scheduled to be deported until U.S. border officers realized that he had difficulties speaking Spanish.

From 1983 until 2001, when he retired, Roberto served as director of the US-Mexico Border Program. During his tenure he developed methods for documenting human rights violations and reached out to churches, local residents and community partners to challenge the abuses taking place along the border.

Roberto was creative in his use of the media to bring attention to increased anti-immigrant actions, vigilantism and shootings occurring at the border. He became part of groups that challenged Operation Gatekeeper, a federal program that tightened the rim of security in the border area but also led to more deaths as undocumented workers sought to seek other ways of crossing the border.

Active in highlighting the plight of border residents, he also sought opportunities to bring together communities throughout California, to mentor young people, and to engage them in human rights work. He found time to support or help start groups such as the Ecumenical Migrant Outreach Project, an effort founded after several Latino men were beaten by high school students in the North County’s Rancho Penasquitos community.

“Roberto was a model leader, who often risked his personal safety and never lost his sense of integrity and hope. He had a quiet dignity that belied his willingness to confront hatred and to challenge abuses that occurred in the border communities,” observed Christian Ramirez, AFSC’s national base building coordinator for Project Voice, AFSC's immigrant and refugee rights initiative.

An organizer and passionate thinker at heart, Roberto participated in countless national and international forums and panel presentations. He also appeared before the U.S. Congress and spoke on Border Patrol violence and the ongoing militarization of the region. His modesty, low-key but firm approach, and his humble spirit revealed his approach to conflict. Indeed, upon learning of his passing, a former adversary commented that, "Roberto was always a gentleman. He will be missed."

Never one to seek recognition for his work, his efforts however, were recognized by other institutions and he humbly accepted these awards on behalf of his community and his work partners. Among these awards were the International Human Rights Monitor by Human Rights Watch for his pioneering human rights border advocacy; the Ohtli Award presented by the Mexican government (this award is the highest honor granted to a non-Mexican national for their service to Mexicans abroad); and the Quetzalcoatl Award presented by the Mexican National Commission for Human Rights.

Before closing his eyes one final time Roberto requested that those attending his mass and service wear white (his favorite color), to remember immigrants who have died crossing the border, and the historic marches throughout the country urging justice for immigrants.

Roberto is survived by his wife (Yolanda), nine children, 23 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. To make a contribution or to send your sympathy wishes to the family please direct your correspondence to: Ms. Y. Martinez c/o AFSC - PO Box 126147, San Diego CA 92112.

For additional reading on Roberto Martinez visit:

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/05/20/news/sandiego/z6299709752ffe640882575bc0069db82.txt

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/21/1m21martinez234319-roberto-martinez/

Friendship Park Featured in NYT

A recent New York Times article focuses on the new fencing plans to divide Friendship Park in California. Representative Bob Filner (D-CA) has urged the Department of Homeland Security not to build the fencing in the park, the Times reports. "It’s harmful to the kind of family culture we have at the border," said Rep. Filner.

"We have a friendly country at the border. We have family ties across the border. It is one place, certainly in San Diego, where we talk about friendship at the border,” Filner said.

Please join us in reaffirming the park's mission and calling for a more sensible and humane immigration policy. Contact your Congressperson today. Urge them to "Save Friendship Park."

Thank you for your adding your voice of support for the public park and the basic rights and dignity of all.

PBS Video on Border Fence

The PBS program NOW focuses on the border fence in this new video. . NOW traveled to Texas to meet families on the U.S.-Mexico border who fear losing their property, their safety, and their way of life. You can take action by sending a letter to your member of Congress to call for a more sensible, effective and humane immigration policy.

Help Save Friendship Park

Updated August 14, 2008

As I write, a public park that represents the international friendship between the U.S. and Mexico is being divided and walled off by the Department of Homeland Security. Please join us in reaffirming the park's mission and calling for a more sensible and humane immigration policy.

For generations, friends and families from San Diego and Tijuana have gathered peacefully in Friendship Park at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Now Border Patrol agents threaten this tradition by questioning and detaining people who visit this special public space.

The struggle to save the park is a troubling symbol of the failures in the U.S. immigration policy. The U.S. doesn't need more fences built or immigrants rounded up, detained and often summarily deported. Those punitive measures don't 'solve' our immigration concerns. Instead, what we need is a workable system that provides a fair path to permanent residency and keeps families together.

The park is not just being damaged symbolically. The extra fences being installed disrupt the quality of life of border communities and damage the delicate coastal ecosystem.

Please join us in contacting your Congressperson today. Urge them to "Save Friendship Park."

Thank you for your adding your voice of support for the public park and the basic rights and dignity of all.

AFSC Human Rights Advocate Released

At 10:00 pm on August 5th 2008 the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Border Patrol) released AFSC staff member, Christian Ramirez after nearly 6 hours of unjustified detention and without any charges against him. He was told of the many people who called from throughout the country urging that Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station officials to release him. The American Friends Service Committee thanks all who supported and ensured the release of Christian Ramirez and takes this opportunity to share his letter with you:

"Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am truly moved by the outpouring of support. Thank you so much for the many emails and calls. I am also grateful for the outstanding effort of my friends and colleagues in San Diego; without their coordination, I will still be detained.

There are many things I want to say, I was detained and then arrested for visiting a park where north meets south and the Pacific crashes against the land, a park that I have visited all of my life. I was detained and arrested for bearing witness to the ongoing destruction of that park, for a triple fence will bypass the last place where families can still come together, and see each other through the wall of death that separates our families and communities.

I was able to capture on video most of the incident. My camera, video, and cell phone were all returned. I was detained for two hours at the park and for four (under arrest) at a Border Patrol Station. I spent the four hours in a cell of about 6 feet wide by 8 feet long. I was released as a result of all of your calls.

Just last Sunday, communities from Tijuana and San Diego came together at the park for an ecumenical gathering. Hundreds of people attended on both sides of the border, including my family. On the Tijuana side, my grandmother sat on a lawn chair flanked by my aunts, uncles laughed, we smiled, we sang together and for that moment the 10 foot wall between us disappeared.

After the event ended, we said our goodbyes; I stretched my fingers through the fence and touched my grandmother's fingers, the only parts of our bodies' small enough to cross through. It was only at that moment the wall reappeared with its entire monstrosity.

This special space has been known as Friendship Park. In my mind and the mind of many here in the San Diego-Tijuana border region, a high wall or other barriers will never take our friendship away, and most certainly not our dignity.

Join us as we endeavor to ensure that Friendship Park can be a space for friendship, family gatherings and the peaceful co-existence of two communities. Greetings and again my deepest thanks to the many colleagues friends, family and faith voices who took action for my release.

Desde la herida abierta - la frontera (From the open wound - the border)

Su humilde servidor, Christian Ramirez"

A Divided Friendship

The Department of Homeland Security plans to erect a triple fence across Friendship Park in San Diego, California where the international boundary meets the Pacific Ocean. Friends and families from San Diego and Tijuana have gathered for generations at this historic meeting place.

In 1971 former first lady Pat Nixon, dedicated a monument to friendship in the park, which sits on the border between the US and Mexico. The first fence constructed in the park now cuts the monument in half.

Construction inside the Park begins the first week in August.

Faith Communities to Hold Gathering to Save Friendship Park

To express opposition to the proposed construction, and the increased fencing along the U.S. border overriding environmental laws, local residents will gather at Friendship Park on this coming Sunday, August 3 at 2 p.m.

All faith traditions are welcome at the interfaith gathering. Participants are invited to share in friendship, meditation, prayer and communion. For more information contact Christian Ramirez, AFSC San Diego, cramirez@afsc.org. or the AFSC San Diego office at 619-233-4114.

The University of California San Diego Department of Communications has produced a timely video overview of the threat to Border Field State Park. To watch the video click here.

Congress' Deadline for Fence Falls Short of Border Reality

Legal Hurdle Side-stepped For Now

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

Developments in lawsuits between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Texas landowners indicate that the Congressional timeline for border fence construction fails to account for residents' rights. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found "difficulties in acquiring rights to border lands" as a factor in problems meeting deadlines for the border fence.

DHS Announces Waiver of Environmental Laws to Build Fence

Furthermore, DHS has announced that it will waive federal environmental laws to move forward in the building of the 670 miles of border fence. House Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said the waiver "represents an extreme abuse of authority" (Washington Post). During yesterday's DHS oversight hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the fence "seemed to be a mean-spirited and costly effort" especially to landowners.

DHS sued 50 Texas landowners who oppose government requests to grant survey access to their private property. Over 25 landowners testified at a federal hearing that the government made no attempt to negotiate a price for accessing their land before the lawsuit began (Houston Chronicle).

University Reaches Agreement with DHS for Access to Campus

In a landmark move, DHS dismissed its lawsuit against the University of Texas-Brownsville and Texas Southmost College (UTB-TSC) last month after the parties reached an agreement hours before a scheduled court appearance. Judge Hanen hopes that the agreement will serve as a model for similar cases. However, the DHS lawsuits with other landowners remain unresolved.

Enforcement-Only Bills Fail to Heed Lessons from Texas

Despite opposition to the border fence from South Texas residents, members of Congress continue to push for an enforcement-only approach that fails to offer constructive solutions for immigration reform. This month, ten Senators introduced a package of enforcement-only bills.

The package includes the Complete the Fence Act (S. 2712) introduced by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC). The bill would require DHS to complete at least 700 miles of reinforced fencing along the southwest border by December 31, 2010.

Senators Disagree: Call Enforcement-Only Bills "Unworkable" and "Unbalanced"

The enforcement-only bill package received criticism from Senators who played critical roles in previous immigration debates. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), said his colleagues are offering "unworkable solutions to complex immigration issues that only make the problem worse." Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said while "mainstream America knows full well that the immigration system is broken, they also recognize that "an unbalanced, narrow approach won't fix it."

AFSC Calls for Upholding the Rights and Dignity of Border Residents

The American Friends Service Committee's (AFSC) decades of work with allies and communities along the southern border include programs in California, Texas and Arizona. AFSC's on-the-ground-work with communities most directly impacted by DHS physical changes to the terrain and to the community ignores the voices and quality of life of border residents, many who have lived in the area for decades.

AFSC reiterates its call for constructive and humane solutions to immigration issues including policies that are rooted in support the human rights of, the environment including the natural habitat of local wildlife endangered animals, and the quality of life of communities and families that have lived along the U.S. border for decades.

Changes to Border Fence Language Debated As Property Owners Oppose Intrusion

by Daniela Martinez Moreno
AFSC Special Projects Policy Fellow

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's (R-TX) amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 2764) signed into law last month caused a flurry of action in the House of Representatives. Provisions in Hutchison's amendment:

- Require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to "consult with the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, States, local government, Indian tribes, and property owners in the United States to minimize the impact on the environment, culture, commerce, and quality of life for the communities and residents located near the sites" of fence construction;

- Mandate the construction of 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, out of which 370 miles must be completed by the end of 2008; and,

- Provide the Secretary of Homeland Security discretion to determine whether or not the placement of fencing along an international border of the United States is "the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location".

According to the Senator, her amendment takes a positive step towards construction of the border fence by requiring consultation with landowners and local elected officials, many of whom feel ignored by the federal government as it continues to plan the building of 130 miles of fencing in Texas (Houston Chronicle).

In addition, the Senator claims that all eight Senators representing the four border states - Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) - are co-sponsors of the amendment's border-fence language.

A number of border fence proponents in Congress criticized Hutchison's amendment for changing the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which mandates the construction of 700 miles of double-layered, reinforced border fencing. However, Senator Hutchison asserts that her amendment is not about whether or not the fence will be constructed, but when and how it will be constructed.

House Members Target Hutchison Amendment

In response to Senator Hutchison's amendment, three members of the House of Representatives introduced border-enforcement bills that modify or repeal certain sections of the amendment.

On January 15, Representative Jim Marshall (D-GA) introduced the Immigration Law Corrections Act of 2008 (H.R. 4960). This bill strikes a paragraph in the Hutchison amendment, which gives the Secretary of Homeland Security discretion regarding border fence placement.

The following day, Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC) and Peter King (R-NY), the original sponsor of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, introduced the "Fence by Date Certain Act" (H.R. 4987). Representative Jones argued that Hutchison's amendment weakens the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (H.R. 6061) by stripping its requirement that the fencing be double-layered at specific areas of the border, and completed by certain dates. His bill requires 700 miles of double-layered fencing to be constructed by June 30, 2009.

On January 23, Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), author of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 fencing provisions, introduced the "Reinstatement of the Secure Fence Act of 2008" (H.R. 5124). Representative Hunter's bill strips the provision in Senator Hutchison's amendment that requires the Department of Homeland Security to consult with the local government, Indian tribes, and U.S. property owners. In addition, the proposed legislation mandates the construction of at least 700 miles of double-layered border fencing in locations determined by the Secretary of DHS within 6 months of the bill's enactment.

Representative Hunter inaccurately claims that "consultation" language could open fence construction to many challenges. The language in the Hutchison amendment does not require that DHS abide by decisions of the consultation.

Hutchison Amendment Does Little for Locals Protesting Border Fence

Regardless of Hutchison's amendment, the failure of a recent lawsuit involving DHS fence construction indicates that local community efforts to stop construction of the fence face an uphill struggle. On January 30, the Justice Department sued six Texas property owners in Cameron County who refused to grant DHS access to their land for border fence surveying (Houston Chronicle). Their collective action came in defiance of Brownsville Federal District Court Judge Andrew Hanen's rule on January 29 requiring that the property owners allow DHS officials access to their land.

Border town community members and local officials alike continue to be frustrated by DHS attempts to disrupt their way of life by imposing the construction of a fence. Whether double-layered or not, building a fence at the border has never proven to be a long-term, practical solution to the immigration dilemma. Once again, local property owners and border communities are receiving the brunt end of the deal as their quality of life is disturbed and altered.