Poor enforcement of laws along the U.S.-Mexico border poses a major threat to national security, anti-illegal immigration activist Chris Simcox said in a speech Wednesday night in Copley Formal Lounge that was interrupted for 15 minutes by a fire alarm.
Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a volunteer group that patrols the U.S.-Mexico border, said that he began his campaign in 2002 after encounters with gun-wielding drug dealers and migrant workers during a vacation along the border.
Upon leaving his job as a kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles, Simcox organized a group of over 8,000 volunteers who watch the border and report the crossing of illegal immigrants. He has also founded a political action committee to lobby congress for border-security legislation.
“Our agents are outmanned, outgunned and out-resourced,” Simcox said. “A group of us sat down and said, `No one is dealing with this.'”
Though protesters in Red Square calling Simcox’s group racist and inhumane toward immigrants were within earshot for the duration of the event, the crowd inside the room was subdued through most of the speech.
A fire alarm ringing throughout Copley Hall interrupted the speech for roughly 15 minutes soon after the speech began. The speech resumed when Assistant Hall Director Craig Huntington (COL ’06), who was in the audience, took hold of the metal alarm with his hand, silencing its noise and eliciting applause from the crowd.
Simcox’s critics have said that his practices are racist and inhumane, pointing out that some members of the MCDC frequently carry concealed weapons, and claiming that the presence of inutemen may frighten away individuals at the border who need help.
“Some people may disagree with our methodology and approach,” Simcox said, “but nothing else worked.”
Arguing that no evidence exists linking his group to racism, Simcox questioned the motives behind those who disagree with him.
“There are no facts to support that we are racially motivated,” he said. “I have a feeling that some of the people protesting this are more concerned about us cutting off their supply of cheap drugs.”
Simcox said that illegal immigration is in part a result of the social policies of the Mexican government, which, he said, amount to “economic ethnic cleansing.”
“Why can’t Mexico, the richest country in Latin America, provide for its citizens?” he said.
Many members of MEChA de Georgetown were present at the event, and several took advantage of a short question-and-answer session following the speech to express their disagreement with Simcox’s message and the MCDC’s tactics.
“How are you any different from the drug smugglers if your members carry weapons?” one student asked.
Ruben Loyo (COL ’07) said during the question-and-answer period that it is a myth to claim that illegal immigrants are a detriment to the economy, adding that many work under false social security numbers, thereby paying taxes without collecting federal benefits.
Loyo said a comprehensive guest-worker program should be implemented.
“We have a guest worker program,” Simcox said. “It’called Green Cards and Visas.”
Responding to one question about the effectiveness of the inutemen, Simcox said that his movement’s tactics have had only limited success in reducing the flow of illegal immigrants across the border.
“When you apply resources to an area, you can help,” he said, “but the other guys are smart and well-funded [by drug cartels].”
Several students said after the speech that the event was marred by the interruption of the fire alarm and the tone of students’ questions.
“It’s embarrassing,” Jake Resnicow (COL ’08) said. “There were people that went up there and argued with him.”
Lecture Fund Chairman Mike Jurist (SFS ’07) reproached the audience several times during the question and answer period because several students stated their own positions rather than asking questions to Simcox.
The event was sponsored by the Lecture Fund.