Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America

by Kathleen Belew

Opposition to immigration had rapidly gained traction nationwide, with a particularly strong foothold in the Southwest. The Arizona border had, by 1986, undergone a series of transformations that increased its militarization and surveillance. Only four days before the CMA border action, Congress had finally passed the long-debated Immigration Reform and Control Act. The measure granted amnesty to some three million undocumented immigrants, but also strengthened the Border Patrol, made it illegal to knowingly hire undocumented immigrants, further militarized the border, and criminalized so-called illegal aliens. Ultimately, the act made Latinas and Latinos in the United States—whether recent immigrants or longtime residents—less able to secure full civil rights.