Im/migrant Agency Report

Border Action Network

 

In these brief reports, students respond to questions about the migration perspectives of an assigned im/migrant agency or organization, based on their Internet research. These annotations will compile a resource list to serve as a guide for the class and others concerned with im/migration issues.

 A.    Title of agency or organization?  Border Action Network (BAN) formerly Southwest Alliance to Resist Militarization (SWARM).

 B.     Where is home base (city/state/country)?  Tucson, Douglas and Nogales, Arizona

 C.     Date founded? Formed in 1999

 D.    Names of key spokespersons/officers:  The Border Action Network consists of five full time employees, and several interns.  Jennifer Allen, the BAN director, and Dan Kraybill are two of the leading officers and spokespeople of this agency.  As of July 21, 2004 they were searching for a new operations director: http://comm-org.utoledo.edu/pipermail/colist/2004-July/003444.html.

 E.     What/who is key constituency or audience? Latino immigrants and communities, and the local government.

 F.      What are the agency’s main activities? They initiate campaigns to fight against the injustice against border dwelling immigrants.  They create reports to government officials detailing their investigations of civilian groups and of Border Patrol agents who violate Arizona state laws.  They try to ensure social and environmental justice on the border.

 G.    Mission statement? The goal of the members of BAN is to continuously have a voice in the activities of their communities by having a profound impact on the issues of organizations and institutions that create problems in these communities.

 H.    What are the key im/migration issues of concern to this agency?  Their focus is the racist violence expressed by the Civilian groups and Border Agents who patrol the Mexico-America border. They are concerned with the increasing number of immigrants that are being incarcerated.

 I.       What appears to be the most common informational basis for statements issued, press releases, reports, etc.? Their door-to-door campaigning and their documented racial profiling acts of the Border Patrol.

 J.       Any publications? (what types, sample titles; if online, give links)  Militarization Grows Along Arizona Border with Mexico, view article at http://www.mennoweekly.org/FEB/02-09-04/Border02-09.html.   Fanatical Illegal Immigration Boosters, view article at http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/Border-Action-Network.html.

 K.    Give at least one citation of this agency in a newspaper article (preferably an Arizona newspaper). Use a citation index to research this e.g., Lexis Nexis, available from the Migration Course Web Page made by the Fletcher Library:  http://library.west.asu.edu/subjects/SOC/soc331.html. Provide a quote from the article that gives a good idea of this agency’s perspective on im/migration.  Note: not a quote from agency’s own web site.

AZ Republic, Group Slams Border ‘Vigilante’ Groups. Sample from article:

“Arizona has become a fertile ground for outside vigilantes who are using national security concerns as an excuse to push their racist and anti-immigrant agenda and break numerous state laws, a human rights group warns in a report to be released today. "There's more than enough evidence, besides a moral imperative, to stop these groups," said Jennifer Allen, co-director of the Border Action Network. "People have already been killed, and it's only going to get worse.””

 L.     Other issues of interest?  none

 M.   Is the agency noticeably pro or con immigration? Pro-Immigration.

 N.    Web site? Give URL: http://www.borderaction.org/

 

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