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MORE ON RISING TENSIONS ON ARIZONA-MEXICO BORDER
The Head of the Board of Supervisors of Cochise County, Arizona, which borders Mexico, has called for the Board to pass a resolution asking Jane Hull, the Governor of Arizona, to use the National Guard to fight against undocumented migration through the county.  The meeting at which the resolution was proposed was organized by an anti-immigration group from California, the Voice of Citizens Together, and was attended by local ranchers, government officials, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. 
It was also announced that the Board is considering suing the federal government to recoup funds spent on medical treatment and legal bills in dealing with the migrants.  The real purpose of the meeting, however, was to rally support for Roger Barnett, a local rancher who has come under fire from the government of Mexico for apprehending migrants on his land with a gun.  The US government is also scrutinizing Barnett’s actions.  
The sheriff of Cochise County was present at the meeting, and said he supported the right of ranchers to defend their land, but warned them that they must stay within the law to guarantee his continued support.  The sheriff was generally well received, except for when he told the audience that he could not enforce federal immigration law. 
The National Commission for Human Rights in Mexico has asked for help from the United Nations in dealing with what it considers human rights violations committed against Mexican migrants by US ranchers.  According to a letter written to Sadako Ogata, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, there is a pressing need to “prevent an atmosphere of growing intolerance and exclusion motivated by incidents in Arizona spreading to other places, with serious risk of there being a climate of lynching and death.” 
The head of the Mexican group said that Border Patrol agents were threatening migrants with guns, had used racial insults against them, and routinely withhold food and water from those it apprehended.  The groups also expressed concern about violent actions by ranchers against migrants.  Just last week, a migrant suffered a serious head injury after being shot at by a rancher. 
According to the Foreign Minister of Mexico, Rosario Green, an UN envoy will visit the border within the next few weeks.  According to Green, the UN envoy, Cecilia Rodriguez, will meet with both Green and Gov. Hull.  The issue of possible border violent will also be a topic of discussion at upcoming annual meetings between officials from Mexico and the US.  
Regardless of one’s position on border control, it is clear that the situation in southern Arizona is reaching a critical point.  According to the Mexican government, armed US ranchers have apprehended Mexican migrants 24 times in the past 12 months.  The recent appearance of a brochure encouraging people to come to the border to participate in vigilante groups has only highlighted the situation.  Since October 1, 1999, Border Patrol agents have made over 400,000 arrests in the Tucson sector, which covers most of Arizona.  This is a 42% increase from the same period last year. 
Responding to the growing crisis, the governments of the US and Mexico issued a rare joint statement condemning the acts of “vigilante justice” by Arizona ranchers.  The two governments also agreed to increase law enforcement presence along the border.  Congress also got into the act this week, with the House passing an amendment that would allow the US military to act as border security.