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In past emails to supporters, she told them to man the border "locked and loaded" - in other words, act lawlessly to interdict and assault Latino immigrants.
The Great Wall of Mexico: America's Border Fence
In November 2005, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched the Secure Border Initiative (SBI), a multi-year, multi-billion dollar program to interdict Latinos trying to enter America. The system consists of strategically placed multiple barriers, separating West and Southwest America from Mexico, including Operation Gatekeeper in California, Operation Safeguard in Arizona, and Operation Hold-the-Line in Texas.
Supporters say it slows but doesn't stop Latino immigration. Opponents call it ineffective, inappropriately jeopardizing their health and safety as well as causing environmental and animal habitat destruction. Completed areas are mainly in California, Arizona and New Mexico. By early 2009, nearly 600 miles were finished. Texas construction is still ongoing.
Eventually to span the 1,951 US/Mexico border, the (20-foot high) fence consists of short physical walls that stop and start, secured in between by "virtual fence" state-of-the-art motion sensors, video cameras, other security electronics, helicopters with forward-looking infrared (FLIR) scopes, drones, Border Patrol agents, National Guard troops, and vigilante groups acting lawlessly on their own.
In March 2010, Obama halted the "virtual fence" expansion, saying funds for it would go for upgrading current border technology. On January 14, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cancelled the five year-old project (called SBI-Net) because it "does not meet current standards for viability and cost effectiveness." Replacing it will be less expensive technology already being used for surveillance.
Border Vigilantes
The MCDC, its 74 chapters now operating independently, took its name from the original "ready in a minute men," dating from the mid-1600s when volunteers trained to be first on the scene to defend communities in case of attack. Today's minutemen and other vigilante groups are for offense, not defense, defending white supremacy and racial hate against impoverished, desperate Latinos here because NAFTA and DR-CAFTA trade laws destroyed their ability to survive at home.
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