South Tucson's El Independiente, 1980-07-18

              Convention: it's ho-hum for some
COPPER MINERS WAIT - Long lines form at the South food stamps. Many waited in lines for days before their
Tucson Civic Center where striking copper miners apply for claims were expedited. (Story on Page 31
By DON RODRIGUEZ
Staff Writer
Smuggling undocumented workers into
the United States is a multi-million dollar
business and Arizona smugglers are
getting a large share of the take, said
Herbert E. Walsh, chief of the U.S.
Border Patrol's Tucson sector.
The patrol's intelligence center in El
Paso, Tex., estimated profits from
smuggling at $17 million in 1978. The
estimated figure is expected to exceed
$19 million this year.
Most smugglers, known as "coyotes",
work for profit. Others are "mom and
pop' operators who make little or no
profit and usually become involved in
smuggling as a favor to family or
friends.,
Profïteer's are believed responsible for
the Fourth of July weekend tragedy
involving a group of Salvadorans who
attempted to enter the United States
from Mexico, across the blistering
desert. Thirteen persons died of heat
exposure in the Organ Pipe Cactus
National Monument near Ajo, and 14
more barely survived the ordeal.
Another four or more persons who were
part of the group are thougSt to have
walked to safety.
Border Patrol officials believe that
smugglers may have been among both
the survivors and the dead. Several are
thought to be among a group that
escaped the desert. The state of Arizona
has offered a $10,000 reward for in-formation
leading to their arrest.
"Mom and pop" operators are not
sought by law enforcement officials as
intensely as commercial operators are,
said Walsh. Many of those who are
sought are never captured and if they
are, punishment is usually light.
Smugglers also include ranchers, he
said, who fly across the Mexican border
and bring back planeloads of illegal
workers.
"Most of them (smugglers) fall
through the cracks in our justice
system," Walsh said.
Smugglers netting huge profits
According to 1979 Border Patrol
figures, 565 smugglers were caught in the
Tucson sector and more than 5,000
smuggled aliens were picked up. The
patrol said the number is about 40 per-cent
of the actual number of aliens who
entered the country illegally.
In the first half of this year, 376
"coyotes" and 3,196 aliens were ap-prehended.
The ratio of those caught
versus the number of offenders is ex-pected
to remain roughly the same.
Apparantly, Walsh said, the penalties
for smuggling are not threatening
enough to halt the practice. The penalty
for smuggling could include four months
to five years in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Few convicted smugglers, he said,
Compiled by El Independiente editors
from reports by University of Arizona
jooroalism students Lynn R, Mazza and
William J. Murray at the Republican
convention.
DETROIT - The two Hispanics and
one black in the Arizona delegation to the
Republican National Convention here
are convinced that minorities will benefit
from party policy even thugh the
platform lacks a precise outline for
dealing with social, economic, em-ployment
or education problems facing
minorities.
The 78-page platform was approved
Tuesday night with little dissent among
the nearly 4,000 delegates and alternates,
including 59 Hispanics and 56 blacks.
The platform pledged "a new
America" under GOP presidential
nominee Ronald Reagan and accused
President Carter of mismanagement and
military weakness. It advocated in-creased
military spending, an end to
abortions and the elimination of man-
Staff Photo by Linda Plants
receive maximum penalties.
The Border Patrol employs 160 officers
in the Tucson sector, but a department
survey indicated that the number should
be 395 ifa thorough detection job is to be
done, Walsh said.
The number of smuggled aliens has
escalated in the last decade because of
high unemployment in other countries,
he said. Improvished people in those
countries consider the United States to be
the "great land of opportunity."
Recently, political turmoil in some
Central American countries has added to
the flow.
Smuggling rings number in the hun-dreds
in the United States, Walsh con-
(Continued on Page 61
datory busing to achieve school in-tegration.
"The platform reflects back to the
days of Lyndon Johnson, who was an
ultra'conservative and responsible for
the civil rights we have today," said
Edward L.V. Reed, s Phoenix public
relations man and the only black in the
Arizona delegation.
Caroline Coronado, a Phoenix delegate
who is Mexican-American, said she had
noi had a chance to read the entire
platform document. But she said she
understood that the platform was
favorable for the Hispanic community.
"I would like to see more programs to
train people for permanent jobs within
the community," Coronado added.
Delegate Eugene D. Lopez, assistant
dean of Northern Arizona University's
graduate school in Flagstaff, said he
believes all minorities will benefit if
Reagan is elected. The benefits, he said,
will come as more ethnic minorities get
into the mainstream of American life.
"Minorities feel excluded from society
By PA. SALLEN
Staff Writer
For some people in a five-block area of
South Tucson, the Republican National
Convention was just a noise in their
living room.
More than half of 28 people interviewed
in s five-block area between Fourth and
Seventh avenues and 31st and 3rd
streets said they paid little attention to
television coverage of the convention and
had little reaction to the Republican
Party's platform or nominees.
Earlier this week, Ronald Reagan won
the Republican prbeidential nominajion
and selected Goorge Bush as his running
mate.
The party's platform opposed abortion
and mandatory school busing to achieve
racial balance and favored increased
defense spending and neutrality on the
Equal Rights Amendment.
"I didn't watch the convention. It
didn't interest me," saicb Cynthia
Chavez, the manager of Pueblo Court
Motel. "I'm not planning on voting."
Marilyn Thomas said the Republican
convention "stunk" and that she does not
like either Reagan sr Bush.
Robert Dumler agreed with Thomas
about the convention and added that
television coverage prevented him from
watching his favorite shows.
'I have seen the convention on the
television only a little bit," said Chris
Bous. He said Reagan was a good choice
for the Republicans, but he plans to vole
Democratic because he does not agree
with an increase in military spending
and he supports the Equal Nights
Amendment.
And Dïana Barry said she did not want
to watch the Republican convention al
all.
"I am a strong Democrat and so is
every one else in this trailer park," she
said. "The Republicans are osgood."
South Tucsonans' reactions to the
convention are not surprising.
Republicans did not do well in the town's
two precincts 47 and 134 - in the 1976
presidential primaries.
According to Pima County records, 576
Democrats and 72 Republicans in
Precinct 47 voted in the last presidential
primaries. In Precinct 134, 146
Democrats voted compared to 49
Republicans.
As of Tuesday, 432 South Tucsonans
were registered as Democrats in
Precit(t 47, compared 1032 Republicans,
(Continuent on Pagel>
3 Arizona delegates are convinced
GOP will address minority needs,
today. There is no need for Spanish-
Americans or Mexican-Americans, we
are all Americans," Lopez said.
The three Arizona delegates admit the
platform does not offer solid solutions to
the problems of minorities.
"Equality," Reed said, "does not
mean sharing alike, but it means
achieving to the extent that one is
capable."
Coronado was not worried by the
conservative lone of the speeches or the
platform at the convention.
"The Hispanic community is very
conservative by tradition and they really
relate to Republican ideals," she said.
A similar prediction wan made here at
a Tuesday press conference called by
Fernando Oaxaca, chairman of the 5,000-
member Republican National Hispanic
Assembly.
"I think you'll find," he said, "if you
look at the districts, you'll find tens of
thousands, hundreds of thousands that
will vote for Ronald Reagan because
they know he's the best one to solve their
economic problems."
EI Independiente
Vol. IV, No.2
Published by the Editing Program for Minority Jou-naIists
July 18, 1980