“Puras mentiras,” (nothing but lies) the Mixteca Indian named Cecilia Vazquez says to me. The other Mixtecas crowd around and nod in agreement.
We’re at the Santa Teresa border crossing just west of El Paso, Texas, and Sunland Park, N.M., and I’ve asked them about the Judicial Watch report claiming that the Islamic State has set up terrorist training camps in Anapra and Palomas, Mexico. Anapra is a settlement on the west edge of Juárez right next to the huge border fence that separates our countries. Palomas ( pop. 5,000) is a small border town some 65 miles to the west and just across from Columbus, N.M., where Pancho Villa staged his raid on March 9, 1916.
Cecilia and the other Mixtecas — originally from the state of Oaxaca — sell souvenirs and snacks at this crossing but they all live in Anapra and assure me that if there were any truth to the Judicial Watch story, they would know about it. Where they live, everyone knows who is who and what is going on.
When I first read this report from Judicial Watch, a Washington-based group that claims to be a government watchdog, it seemed not only preposterous but malicious as well. As the Mixtecas indicated, how could these camps possibly exist in Anapra and Palomas without everyone knowing about them? And why publish such an obviously false report if not to inflame those who are against immigration and to prejudice a debate that is already far too based on emotions rather than facts?
Earlier, Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, contacted all the related U.S. and Mexican officials and stated that, “None of them have found any evidence, credible or otherwise, that ISIS is in Juárez. Stories like this are good at scaring people and getting attention for those who spread them. But they are terrible for the country’s image of the border, for El Paso’s ability to recruit talent, and for our region’s opportunity to capitalize on the benefits of being the largest binational community in the world.”
Then, although I’m in these border communities at least monthly, I rechecked my impressions and spoke to Border Patrol officers and non -profits like the orphanage Tree of Life, which is supported by Coloradans and Missions Ministries headquartered in Castle Rock and builds about 40 houses a year not far from Anapra. I visited a church group that works in Anapra; the mayor of Columbus, N.M.; businesspeople in Palomas; the manager of a women’s co-op in Anapra; plus other non-profits who work in these communities and many people on the street.
All said the stories were rumors, bogus and unsubstantiated. “It is preposterous,” said Jim Noble, a Santa Fe attorney who heads a coalition that has maintained an orphanage in Palomas for more than 15 years. “The Federales have a military camp just outside of Palomas. I am sure that if they had heard about anything like this, they would have taken swift action. You and I both know that a group like ISIS would never receive support in the general Mexican population.”
For those of us who travel frequently to these communities, this is so obviously a fraud that it might not seem important. But for those who don’t know that it would be physically impossible for an Islamic State presence to go unnoticed in either Anapra or Palomas, these scare tactics make good fodder for those who are strongly opposed to any kind of immigration reform.
Last September, for example, U.S. Rep. Trent Franks from Arizona claimed that the Islamic State was or had recently been present in Juárez. Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Louis J. Barletta, R- Penn., have made similar claims. That’s the danger of this kind of dishonest reporting.
The immigration debate will resurface soon, whether as an issue to be resolved on its merits or perhaps only because presidential candidates are courting the Hispanic vote. Nonetheless, it should be resolved on the facts and not lies and scare-mongering. We ought to be able to rely on the integrity of those who are reporting about it, even though we may not like what they have to say. Unfortunately all we get from Judicial Watch are puras mentiras.
Morgan Smith is a former member of the Colorado House of Representatives and Commissioner of Agriculture. He travels to the border at least once a month to document and work with humanitarian programs there. He can be reached at Morgan-smith@comcast.net.
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