As Arivaca residents, PHP has been organizing for the demilitarization of the borderlands. We believe that only the protection of human life and investment in our communities can transform the border crisis. We call for an end to the military approach to immigration policy. We believe in human rights and dignity for all.
To uphold this vision, we call for the immediate removal of all inland Border Patrol checkpoints. Checkpoints surround our community. We cannot leave to attend school, go to work, or visit with friends and family elsewhere without being stopped by armed Border Patrol agents. We are asked to verify our citizenship and are at times subjected to questioning, profiling, warrantless searches, verbal harassment, and physical abuse by Border Patrol agents.
By placing checkpoints on all roads between 25 and 100 miles into the US interior, migrants and refugees are forced into long journeys on foot through the Sonoran Desert. Checkpoints not only lock down our communities–they directly contribute to the documented deaths and disappearances of thousands of people across the southwest borderlands.
As a community, we have petitioned the US Border Patrol to abolish all interior checkpoints.
We independently monitor Border Patrol checkpoints to deter abuse and collect data. Read our Checkpoint Monitoring Report.
We hold vigils and protests at area checkpoints, calling for their immediate removal.
In partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union, we have taken legal action again the violation of our right to monitor Border Patrol’s activities at the checkpoints. We have also helped to provide testimony about the harassment and abuse of border residents at checkpoints.
TUCSON, Ariz.—A preliminary injunction hearing is being held at the DeConcini Federal Courthouse in connection with the lawsuit that the ACLU has filed against the US Border Patrol on behalf of two Arivaca, AZ residents and community organizers. Residents filed suit in November over the harassment, retaliation, and restrictions of first amendment activities that they experienced at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Arivaca Road when they took part in a community-based effort to peaceably monitor the activities of border enforcement agents. Specifically, in response to being independently observed, the US Border Patrol instituted an “enforcement zone” around the Arivaca Road checkpoint, effectively pushing monitors back and impeding their attempts to observe and record data there. The official checkpoint monitoring report can be found here. Residents will be making a press statement in front of the courthouse immediately following the judge’s ruling and will be available for interviews at that time.
What: Injunction Hearing in the Arivaca Resident’s Law Suit Against Border Patrol
When: Tuesday, April 21st 2015 at 10 am
Where: DeConcini Federal Courthouse, 405 W Congress St #1500, Tucson, AZ 85701
