Mike Wilson and the Minutemen by Avery, Allison, and Soo-Mi

Friday February 8th

It was an early start today, we were in the vans at 7 and drove into the city (from our campground 10 miles to the north ed.) to meet with Mike Wilson, who sets out water for immigrants in the desert. He spoke to us about his thoughts on immigration and how it affects his native tribes land, the Tohono O’Odham in southern Arizona. After thanking Mike and saying goodbye to him, we headed out to desert to visit a ranch patrolled by the Minutemen—(a civilian group that patrols the desert looking for migrants so that they can report them to the Border Patrol ed.) They shared their feelings with us about the immigration issue, and so we had a chance to hear “the other side’s” thoughts. Although most of us didn’t agree with what they said (that the immigrants represented an insurgency into the United States that threatens to erode the core democratic nature of our nation ed,) we did our best to listen respectfully.
They led us on foot through a trail in the desert (after a bumpy ride in the vans about seven miles in ed.) and we saw everything that migrants have dropped in the desert while walking to America in an effort to start a new life. (Literally thousands of tattered backpacks, tubes of toothpaste, boxes of pills, jugs of empty water, jackets, pants, and even a pair of children’s underwear ed.). It was depressing. I thought that they guy (Roger the lead Minuteman) was going to be a jerk, but he wasn’t too bad. At one point in the middle of his speech about the evils of immigration, Avery asked him if he had ever killed anyone (he was wearing a pistol on his belt). Not skipping a beat, Roger answered nonchalantly, “oh absolutely,” and launched straight back into his spiel. (Many of us think that he misunderstood the question.)

After we walked through the desert, Roger drove us to the a new fence in Sasabe (a popular crossing point for migrants) that separates Mexico from the U.S. It was an odd contraption of twenty foot high metal bars that stretched for several miles in either direction from the town ed.) After we milled around the fence for a while and took some photos, we made a sudden decision to drive across the border and briefly check out the Mexican side. It was really easy to cross. We saw a cemetery that was colorful with fake flowers. Coming home to camp after a long day was nice. We ate a delicious spaghetti dinner. Amir made a fire and we ate smores.