Democrat’s visit to GV focuses on border, checkpoint issues

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ visit to Green Valley on Saturday was marked by its focus on border issues and the sometimes-rowdy discussion it spawned.

The meeting came to the Joyner-Green Valley Library as part of the Arizona Democrat’s “Congress On Your Corner” community-outreach program, the sixth stop on her tour of communities throughout her district.

There was a larger-than-expected turnout with more than 175 people in attendance, many enthusiastic locals having waited in line outside the building just to get a chance to talk to their representative.

The hot issues were immigration checkpoints and border security, with the discussion occasionally veering toward such contentional topics as Social Security taxes and the No Child Left Behind Act.

But many wanted to hear about the steps being taken to stop illegal immigration and how Southern Arizona communities would be affected. Giffords expressed her disappointment that the federal immigration bill was not passed in the Senate last week.

Giffords said that because Arizona was the only sector along the Mexican border that has not been allowed to build a permanent checkpoint, the consequence is that the region has become “a major thoroughfare for drug trafficking and human smuggling.”

“More than 2,000 people are apprehended a day at the Arizona-Mexico border, and over 2,500 pounds of drugs confiscated,” said Giffords, “more than in any other border state.”

The topic of building a permanent border checkpoint south of Green Valley elicited jeers from the crowd, and one woman called out, only half-jokingly, “No fighting!”

When Giffords said that she advocated government officials working with local communities on border issues, a man from the crowd yelled, “What if we don’t want them in our neighborhoods?”

Barry Denk of Tubac had a heated opinion on the issue of permanent border checkpoints.

“I should be able to come from Tubac to Green Valley as an American citizen, not having a concern unless it was clear that I was a drug-smuggler,” he said.

He described the inception of these checkpoints as indicative of “the militarization of our society,” and said, “You’d think we were living in the Gaza Strip,”

Some attending the meeting had more complaints about the “unorganized” format of the meeting than the topics discussed.

“This should have been like a New England town meeting, where people follow democratic procedure. People aren’t annoyed with Giffords, they’re annoyed that they’re not getting a chance to speak,” said Harriet Belenker of Green Valley.

Still, some believed that the problem was with the attitude of several of those in attendance.

Local resident Jerry Duehr said, “This is terrible. I’ve never seen adults act like this.”

jrichardson@gvnews.com