by Sylvanna Falcon

“FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE PRESENT, WOMEN HAVE BEEN TARGETED IN GENDER-specific ways during militarized conflict. In every militarized conflict, women are systematically raped or sexually assaulted. Some feminist scholars and advocates contend that rape is not about sex, but rather about power and the dehumanization of women (Woodhull, 1988). By international standards, rape is a war crime, a form of torture, and a link to genocide. Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the former Special Rapporteur for the United Nations (U.N.) Commission on Human Rights, released a document on the former Yugoslavia that classified rape as “an abuse of power and control in which the rapist seeks to humiliate, shame, embarrass, degrade, and terrify the victim. The primary objective is to exercise power and control over another person” (U.N. Economic and Social Council, 1993a: 71).

In this article, I argue that rape is one outcome of militarization along the U.S.-Mexico border. I examine specific cases of militarized border rape using data from nongovernmental organizations, government committees, and U.S. newspapers. (1) I also analyze the factors that facilitate militarized border rape and emphasize the need to advance human rights for women in the border region. Each of the women in the case studies took some form of action against the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Some even used an advocate to move their cases forward through an investigation. All of the cases involved INS officials or Border Patrol agents. (l) Though the cases highlighted do not include U.S. military or paramilitary forces, the influence of military culture on Border Patrol agents has affected that agency.

Rape is a weapon of war and militarization at the border indicates that a form of war exists. Data indicate that some men have reported being raped at the border (Amnesty International, 1998), but most rapes violate women, whether at the border or throughout the world. Motivations for raping women differ in a war-torn country from those committed along the U.S.-Mexico border. However, the outcome remains the same — the systematic degradation of women.”

We have seen that women and children are the most affected by raids. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the majority of immigrant women in detention are asylum seekers fleeing persecution or are victims of some other form of violence. (Briefing Paper to United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants, From National Immigrant Justice Center, Date: April 16, 2007, Re: The Situation of Immigrant Women Detained in the United States).

Be more prepared when a raid happens in your community! Raids cause chaos and confusion for everyone- workers, employers, families and community members.

Please find here a compilation of materials, letters and articles from organizations across the nation. Feel free to use any or all materials, the only request is that you credit the organization that created it when you personalize materials or tailor them for your community.

The National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women has not endorsed any of the following materials, but lists them here for reference.

PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG!

From the Family Violence Prevention Fund

“Like all women, immigrant women are at high risk for domestic violence, but due to their immigration status, they may face a more difficult time escaping abuse. Immigrant women often feel trapped in abusive relationships because of immigration laws, language barriers, social isolation, and lack of financial resources.i Despite recent federal legislation that has opened new and safe routes to immigration status for some immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence, abuse is still a significant problem for immigrant women, as it is for all women in the United States.

• A recent study in New York City found that 51 percent of intimate partner homicide victims were foreign-born, while 45 percent were born in the United States.ii

• Forty-eight percent of Latinas in one study reported that their partner’s violence against them had increased since they immigrated to the United States.iii

• A survey of immigrant Korean women found that 60 percent had been battered by their husbands.iv

• Married immigrant women experience higher levels of physical and sexual abuse than unmarried immigrant women, 59.5 percent compared to 49.8 percent, respectively.v

• Abusers often use their partners’ immigration status as a tool of control.vi In such situations, it is common for a batterer to exert control over his partner’s immigration status in order to force her to remain in the relationship.vii

• Immigrant women often suffer higher rates of battering than U.S. citizens because they may come from cultures that accept domestic violence or because they have less access to legal and social services than U.S. citizens. Additionally, immigrant batterers and victims may believe that the penalties and protections of the U.S. legal system do not apply to them.viii

• Battered immigrant women who attempt to flee may not have access to bilingual shelters, financial assistance, or food. It is also unlikely that they will have the assistance of a certified interpreter in court, when reporting complaints to the police or a 911 operator, or even in acquiring information about their rights and the legal system.ix”

LatinaLista — Tomorrow, five women will travel to Capitol Hill to deliver testimony at an ad-hoc congressional hearing examining violence against immigrant women. They will speak on behalf of the hundreds of immigrant victims of domestic violence who have been doubly victimized — first by their attackers and secondly by the U.S. federal government’s current immigration policies.

Each woman is either a victim herself of domestic violence or works with immigrant domestic violence victims. 

Each one, according to their testimony released to the media, brings an underlying message to members of Congress — abused immigrant women are being treated as criminals when they should be receiving medical attention and emotional help. Also, as a result of current immigration enforcement policies, these women are opting to live with the abuse rather than call police for help.

(Editor’s note: Highlighted names link to full testimony)

Maria Bolaños is from El Salvador who called the police after feeling threatened by her partner.

I called the police after I had a fight with my partner and was afraid he might hurt me, thinking the police would help me. But instead, they arrested me, thinking that I was illegally selling phone cards because they saw them on the table. I was taken in, fingerprinted and had my photos taken like I was a criminal. They found I was not selling phone cards, but I was turned over to immigration.   

…I feel like I made a mistake calling the police when I was afraid, and worry what will happen to all the women out there when they need help. In my community, people simply do not trust the police, especially after what happened to me. I fear for anyone facing domestic violence, or anyone that witnesses a crime, that they won’t call the police for fear of deportation.

Juana Flores is a survivor of domestic violence and also a director of Mujeres
Unidas y Activas, a Latina immigrant organization in the San Francisco Bay Area that helps thousands of women experiencing domestic violence each year.

With the increase in collaboration between police and immigration sweeping the country through programs like “Secure Communities” we are experiencing more and more victims who are scared to call the police, who are staying silent, and risking their lives for the fear of being arrested and then referred to immigration for deportation, which would seperate them from their children and their dreams of a better life.

This is very real for my community, every day there are families experiencing the painful separation of their families… I know that if we are experiencing this in the notably progressive immigrant-friendly San Francisco Bay Area that conditions are much
much worse in other parts of the country, and I am truly scared to think the lives that these policies are putting in danger.

Leslye E. Orloff, vice president and director of the Immigrant Women Program of Legal Momentum, and one of those testifying, offers congressional representatives not just examples of the abuse happening to immigrant women as a result of current immigration policies, but offers a list of suggestions that can be done now to alleviate the pain of these women.

Suggestions range from ending the 287(g) program where local police enter into cooperative agreements with immigration officials to turn over undocumented immigrants in custody to creating sensitivity training for law enforcement officials and federal immigration agents in learning how to identify victims of domestic violence and how to treat them.

When enacting 1996 immigration reforms in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) of 1996, Congress underscored its intent to protect battered immigrants by adding battered immigrant women and children to the categories of immigrants qualified to receive welfare benefits that prior legislation took away. IIRAIRA’s restoration of benefits for battered immigrants reflected Congress’s recognition that economic survival is a significant reason victims remain with abusers. IIRAIRA enables victims to break the cycle of economic dependency on an abusive spouse, partner, parent, or employer.

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By Maria Jimenez, 2009

“This report is the sounding of an alarm for a humanitarian crisis that has led to the death of more than 5,000 human beings. It is part of a larger effort of human rights organizations throughout the border region to call attention to the most significant, ongoing violations of human rights occurring today. The report analyzes border security policies and practices that have contributed to the suffering and death of unauthorized border crossers. It reviews the impact of migrant fatalities and injuries to individuals, families and communities. It examines government and civil society responses to preserve and protect human life moving through hostile terrain and severe climates. It explores relevant international human rights laws and principles. Finally, the report offers recommendations to end this humanitarian crisis.”

WOMEN ARTISTS ON IMMIGRATION examines social, political and cultural issues related to the dynamic topic of immigration. Each subtopic — Crossing Borders, Confronting Barriers, Bridging Identities — is amplified in the diverse perspectives of the contemporary works . Together, they inspire an ongoing dialogue about our cultural, political and personal identities. A full color catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

Critics of immigrants have launched a full-scale advocacy campaign of fear and resentment about immigrant women and their families. Misconstruing basic facts about immigration and using phrases like “lawless destructive anarchy of invasion,” “anchor babies,” and illegal alien invader,” anti-family, anti-immigrant lawmakers are advocating legislation at the state and federal level that would deny citizenship laws.

The National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights (NCIWR) is the only national collaboration to specifically focus on women and gender issues in the public discourse on immigration. We work to elevate women’s voices and push back against dehumanizing attacks. The coalition represents more than 40 leading organizations with a presence nationally and in every state.

“Artist Judi Werthein has walked smack into the middle of this controversy.

She is hoping to leave her footprint with a special “crossing trainer” she has designed to help illegal immigrants negotiate the sometimes deadly terrain they encounter when crossing the border from Mexico to the US.

Migrants waiting for dark to hop the border fence from Tijuana into San Diego start calling out their shoe sizes when they see the boxes in Werthein’s arms.

People start emerging from their makeshift homes in rusted cars and the cement channel that runs parallel to the border fence and drains Tijuana’s fetid run-off.

Some have been waiting for months in this no-man’s land for their chance to cross into San Diego.

Tarantula risk

They call the act of crossing the “brinco” - literally “jump” in Spanish. And that is the inspiration for Werthein’s crossing shoes, called Brincos.

The trainers are adorned with unusual items.

“The shoe includes a compass, a flashlight because people cross at night, and inside is included also some Tylenol painkillers because many people get injured during crossing,” Werthein says.

The trainers are equipped with a compass, light, map and painkillers

The artist was commissioned by a cross-border arts exhibition called inSite to develop a project that “intervened” in some aspect of border life.

While researching her project, the Argentine native became fascinated by illegal immigrants’ primary mode of transportation - their feet.

“If they go through the sierra, they walk eight hours. Their feet get hurt. There’s a lot of stones and there are snakes, tarantulas. So that’s why it is a little boot,” she says.

The Brinco is an ankle-high trainer which is green, red, black and yellow.

An Aztec eagle is embroidered on the heel. On the toe is the American eagle found on the US quarter, to represent the American dream the migrants are chasing.

A map - printed on the shoe’s removable insole - shows the most popular illegal routes from Tijuana into San Diego.

First new shoes

Guadalupe Elias has arrived at the Madre Asunta migrant shelter in Tijuana. Catholic nuns run the refuge for women and children making their way north.

After the 48-hour trip from her home in southern Mexico, Ms Elias’ trainers are ruined.

She tells Werthein, who has come to the shelter to pass out Brincos, that she needs shoes that fit.

Werthein gives her a pair of Brincos - and Ms Elias begins to cry.

“I’m crying because you gave me these and almost no-one ever helps me,” she explains, adding that she has never owned new shoes before.

A few days after passing out shoes for free to migrants, Werthein begins selling the shoes at a hip boutique trainer store in downtown San Diego.

The shop sells only limited edition trainers. A pair of Werthein’s Brincos are displayed on a pedestal under glass with a price tag of $215 (£125).

Real incentive

Though the store is only about 15 miles (24km) from Tijuana, here the champagne-sipping crowd sees the Brinco as a vehicle for discussion - not transport.

Andrea Schmidt, of La Jolla, is buying a pair to display in her living room.

“I think they’re historical. I think it depicts a very special problem. And I thought it was important to have them,” she says.

But her husband, Joe, thinks her purchase crosses a line.

He says: “It does give them an incentive to come. Because these are probably the best shoes they’ve ever had in their lives.”

Werthein dismisses complaints that she is aiding and abetting illegal immigrants.

She argues she is just provoking an important discussion. The real incentive for illegal immigrants, she says, is Americans’ demand for cheap labour. ”

The news articles appearing below highlight Homeland Security misconduct that spans the spectrum - murder to bribery and nearly everything in between. After you finish reading the articles below, you may want to ask yourself how can a department that can’t even secure itself possibly hope to secure the border. Then ask yourself:

Do you feel secure yet?

“It was an immigrant chase that started in Mission and ended in tragedy.

Investigators are working to identify an undocumented immigrant who drowned after jumping into a canal Tuesday night.

Border Patrol spokesperson Rosie Huey spoke to Action 4 News about the case.

“It was right behind me in this canal where the man’s body was found,” Huey said

Mission police responded to a canal near the intersection of Conway and Abelino Farias Road in Tuesday night after receiving a call that a man was in the canal.

Huey said the man was part of a group of 20 illegal immigrants and had jumped into the canal to escape authorities.

She said a Border Patrol agent attempted to rescue the immigrant but couldn’t reach him.

Mission firefighters were called to the scene and they recovered his body a few hours later.

Authorities are now handling the investigation into the man’s death…..”