The NGO Humane Borders/Fronteras Compasivas has drawn up a grim map of deaths recorded along the 650 km of border in Arizona – deaths which can occur very far from it, up to 100 km inland. Since January 1990, the association has counted more than 4,000. Even then, these are only duly recorded deaths. How many migrants have simply disappeared, without being found, without even knowing it?
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A speech that goes badly
The fate of these unfortunate people never ceases to be moving in a state where 13% of the 7.5 million inhabitants were born abroad – two thirds of these migrants are Latin American, mainly Mexicans who fled poverty and, more recently, drug cartel violence. To this must be added a million Arizonans born on American soil to at least one parent who is or was an immigrant. So the populist discourse on “the hordes of criminals” Who “invade” the country, even among those who, like Ricardo, this entrepreneur from Phoenix whose parents are Salvadoran, nevertheless judge that uncontrolled immigration has become “a problem”.
The caricature is all the less appreciated here as the reality is quite different. According to figures from the American Immigration Council, one in six workers in Arizona is an immigrant – something that the millions of tourists who share with the retired the status of dominant population in the Grand Canyon State. And, calculated by this NGO founded in Washington by a group of specialized lawyers, the professional activity of immigrants in Arizona generates more than a billion dollars in turnover every year. As for the consumption of the households concerned, it pours tens of billions of dollars into the local economy.
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After the Texas takeover
Arizona has recently suffered from coercive measures taken unilaterally by the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, to curb illegal immigration. The smugglers then chose to take alternative routes via the three other border states: California, New Mexico and Arizona. The toughening of migration policy to which Joe Biden finally resigned himself in June, unable to rally the Republicans to a more ambitious reform project, has started to produce results. The number of migrants intercepted at the border in Arizona has now fallen to its February 2021 level.
This, however, has not tempered the ardor of those inspired by the Texan model. Among the bills that will be submitted to a referendum on the sidelines of the presidential election on November 5 in Arizona, is Proposition 314, which aims to criminalize illegal entry into American territory and to make it possible to arrest illegal immigrants, no longer just when crossing the border, but anywhere in the state. The risk of racial profiling revives the memory of a precedent: the controversial 2010 text “on support for the application of our laws and the security of our neighborhoods”. This law created the most ruthless system in the country to combat illegal immigration, but it was ultimately blocked by federal justice.
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Growing hostility to migrants
So history seems to be repeating itself in Arizona and, this time, with the support of perhaps a majority of Arizonans. Last month, Proposition 314 had the support of 63% of those surveyed, while, according to a CBS News poll, 53% of voters said they were seduced by Donald Trump’s promise to “mass deport” illegal immigrants. There were also many (52%), in another CBS poll in May, who believed that recently arrived Latin American immigrants had negatively affected life in Arizona. Only 35% thought this in July 2020.
The support for Proposition 314, mainly coming from conservative circles, will perhaps be offset by the opposition of more progressive voters, who will be convinced to vote to pass another measure subject to referendum: Proposition 139, intended to enshrine protection of the right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution. The vote of some 275,000 citizens of the State who have, in their family, at least one relative in an illegal situation, should also weigh in the balance.
Fateful consequences
The issue goes beyond just the question of immigration. By stimulating electoral participation, the mobilization for or against Proposition 314 will have an impact on the presidential election, in a “swing state” of crucial importance, but also on the legislative elections (a seat in the Senate and at least one other in the House). House will be hotly contested in Arizona). For many, however, the human consequences of the vote cannot be overlooked. “If the law passes, the repression will be harsher”with en garde Ricardo. “This will not deter migrants. It will only encourage them to take more risks to avoid being arrested. And there will be more deaths in the Sonoran Desert.”
