Caution Advisory: Be Careful Near Southern Border

Beginning on Friday, April 1st, a group of vigilantes (private citizens armed with guns) will resume patrolling the desert areas of Arizona's southern border with Mexico. These groups do not have authorization from the U.S. Border Patrol to conduct patrols, and President George W. Bush himself condemned these groups. At the same time, it is not entirely illegal to carry a gun and conduct "citizens' arrests".

The vigilante groups claim that they are frustrated that U.S. border security is lacking. Not only are they disgruntled with illegal immigration, they feel that the Arizona border presents opportunities for terrorists. Many of the vigilante organizers are ranch-owners who want to defend their property from transiting illegal immigrants and from human smugglers and drug smugglers.

So, what is a vigilante group? It is a private, non-government armed militia. However, in this case, it happens to be a right-wing militia. All of the members are white males, including right-wing white supremacists who are recruited from other parts of the country.

In light of this situation, I encourage all to be careful in Arizona's southern deserts. If any of you plan to visit Mexico over the summer, be very careful and stick to the common border crossing points. Even though you are Chinese, the vigilantes may think you are immigrating illegally by transiting through Mexico. Plus, many of them are racist.

Keep in mind, they may not only patrol the areas near the Mexican border, but large desert areas in the southern swath of land that could encompass roughly one-fifth or one-sixth of Arizona's land area. If you want to explore the open desert countryside, I recommend maintaining a lattitude that isn't too far south from the Phoenix metro area. Of course, Tucson and the highways and towns should be no problem.

Here's some news links:

http://aztlan.net/vigilantes.htm

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20050324-075949-5943r.htm

http://www.borderaction.org/campaigns3.php?articleID=12

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0331border31.html

在这些链接里有一个给了张挺可怕的照片，据信是一名墨西哥人被抓到之后处了私刑

[此贴子已经被作者于2005-4-1 17:15:31编辑过]