Just today, the Associated Press reported that
one of the Minutemen is being investigated by Arizona
police for physically restraining a 26-year old Mexican
man and making him pose for a photo next to a t-shirt
reading, "Bryan Barton caught an illegal alien and all I
got was this T-shirt." Many people fear that incidents
like this one could easily escalate into more severe forms
of violence.

************************************************************************
Find out what?s really going on at the US-Mexico border:
Join Global Exchange on an upcoming US-Mexico border
Reality Tour

************************************************************************

Unfortunately, the real story of what?s going on in the
US-Mexico border region has been completely lost in the
mainstream press reports. For example, where are the
stories about ?Operation Gatekeeper? and similar programs,
through which the US government has spent billions of
dollars to stop the flow of people across the border by
blocking traditional border crossing routes? These
programs have not only failed to stem the tide of migrants
but have also led to a 500% increase in migrant deaths.
During ?Operation Gatekeeper?s first ten years, at least
3,000 identified migrants and 1,000 unidentified migrants
have died trying to cross the US-Mexico border, having
been pushed into dangerous border crossing areas of
mountains and deserts.

And where are the stories about NAFTA (the North American
Free Trade Agreement)? NAFTA?s proponents said the treaty
would improve the economy in Mexico, thereby addressing
one of the root causes of migration: unemployment. But
according to Public Citizen?s report on NAFTA?s first ten
years, 1.5 million Mexican farm livelihoods were destroyed
under NAFTA, which led displaced rural workers to migrate
to Mexican cities or to the United States. Ten year of
NAFTA has also seen the average wage for Mexico?s
manufacturing workers decline from $5 per day to $4 per
day.

Global Exchange explores these issues and others on our
Reality Tours to the US-Mexico border. We invite you to
join us on an upcoming delegation to experience the border
from the inside and go beyond the stories that are being
told by both the Minutemen and the mainstream news media.

Upcoming US-Mexico border delegations include:

April 29 ? May 2, 2005
Workers Unite Across Borders

July 2 ? 5, 2005
Independence and the American Dream

For additional information about these trips, contact
Claudia Rodriguez-Zinn, claudia@globalexchange.org,
1-800-497-1994 ext. 227.

Thank you, as always, for all of your hard work to promote
peace and justice.

Global Exchange
_________________________________________________________
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