Majority of Border Residents Feel Their Communities Are Secure

While Gov. Jan Brewer's wild talk of beheadings in the desert might be scaring off enough out-of-state visitors to make it hard for those in the Arizona tourism industry to sleep at night, a majority of residents who live near the border in Arizona and other states are smart enough not to buy the hype. A new poll conducted last month by the Border Network for Human Rights pokes holes in the national discourse on the need to "secure our border" to keep Americans living in those dangerous locales safe.

As the Democrats are busy throwing away hundreds of millions of dollars to amp up border security and deploying National Guard troops, as we hear from nativist politicians tall tales about criminals crossing the border secretly and wreaking havoc on American society, as Gov. Brewer cries out for President Obama to send in the drones (despite their less-than-super record on killing innocent people), most border residents are wondering just what all the fuss is about.

In Nogales, site of Arizona Senator John McCain's infamous "complete the danged fence" video, 90% of residents feel safe going about their everyday lives walking and driving in the neighborhood that right-wing politicians would have you think are under some kind of siege. Overall, in border cities in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas, only 7.8% of the 1,222 residents surveyed reported not feeling safe strolling or driving in their neighborhood.

I've asked the question before: What border violence? Allegations that undocumented immigrants are committing serious crimes against Americans in border towns just don't hold up. And while Mexico itself has severe problems with a U.S.-fueled drug war which I'd be happy to see us take steps to combat, us privileged Americans this side of the border are already living in very secure communities.

Anti-immigrant politicians use the fabrication of undocumented immigrants as criminals and the border as an ever flowing entry source of crime into the United States to support nativist legislation that they know just wouldn't fly with the majority of Americans if we were talking facts. Ironically, as Andrea Nill points out on Think Progress, harsh and restrictive immigration laws and current border security measures strengthen criminal smuggling groups by giving them more clients, and increase the undocumented immigrant population by deterring seasonal workers from going back home, since they aren't sure they'll be able to return again.

It's indisputable that people are risking their lives to cross the border without authorization (and some are dying) to make a living for themselves and their families, often to do strenuous, low-paying work with a high risk of exploitation. We do need immigration reform: it is a human rights necessity, among other things. But right-wing attempts to hijack the debate with fear-mongering about "criminal aliens" is just a smokescreen for the nativism and xenophobia that makes them support draconian immigration laws and derail comprehensive immigration reform that has a shot at creating a just and enforceable system.

Photo credit: Evil Erin