Illustration by Mike Padilla

Tombstone was a circus on April Fools' Day. Protesters with signs that read "Borders imprison us all" merged with counter-protesters holding signs proclaiming "Osama bin Laden loves open borders." American Indian dancers performed on the main drag of Interstate 80 that runs through town. Reporters and photojournalists from media outlets like the Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio and local Arizona papers jockeyed for position on the sidewalks.

For once, the tourists weren't paying much attention to the Earp brothers or the shootout at the OK Corral.

This carnival atmosphere accompanied the kick-off meeting of the Minuteman Project: a month-long patrol of the border near Douglas, Ariz, and Naco, Mexico by ordinary citizens. The idea is to "help" U.S. Border Patrol agents by reporting any illegal entrance into the country.

The Minuteman Project is an effort by self-described concerned citizens who want to stop the flow of illegal immigration coming into the United States, mostly occurring through the Arizona-Mexico border. Apparently, having a powwow in the desert will achieve that goal. In case the Minutemen don't quite accomplish the task of revolutionary immigration reform, it will have generated tons of publicity for the project and its leaders.

Rui Wang Columnist

On the streets of Tombstone, two women waved Colorado state flags. They had trekked from their home state to support the project, explaining, "We're doing what our government won't."

It's difficult to find much of a visible Arizona presence among the Minutemen. Pictures from a Minuteman rally in Douglas on Saturday showed supporters waving mostly California and Colorado state flags. Rep. Tom Tancredo from the 6th District of Colorado spoke at the orientation meeting. The vast majority of those who signed up through the project Web site are not from Arizona.

The Minutemen claim that illegal immigrants are "invading" America. But the Minutemen are invading southern Arizona.

Illegal immigration is by no means a local or state issue, but its most immediate, tangible effects are felt by those who live on the border: the ranchers, the land-owners, the Mexican-American residents who are racially profiled as illegals.

The leaders of the project, based in Tombstone, should realize the harm to the people of southern Arizona in hosting the Minutemen - who President Bush refers to as "vigilantes" - many with no emotional or fiduciary ties to the region.

Unlike the Minutemen, who will drive away at the end of the month and never feel the consequences of their rhetoric, Jo Bannister is a resident of Tombstone. She has to deal with the complexities of living near the border, and she is conflicted in her statements.

Bannister expressed anger at the "huge amounts of refuse and trash" and cut fences left in the immigrants' wake, but couldn't help sympathizing with them at the same time. "I feel sorry for the humanity part of it, (and) I'm disgusted with the coyotes."

Even so, in order to deter illegal immigration, Bannister believed that water stations should not be left in the desert for dehydrated travelers. When pressed about whether it was preferable to have fewer immigrants but a higher corpse count in her backyard, Bannister conceded that illegal immigration was a "tough" issue.

Ray Ybarra, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union and a resident of Douglas, is also conflicted in the way he talks about the Minuteman Project. Working as a "legal observer," Ybarra sought to avoid pegging the Minutemen as racists, while pointing to the fear that many Americans have of "the browning of America" as a factor in the current climate in Tombstone.

Ybarra is concerned about "the real problem at the border" - people who are dying attempting to cross the border.

The issue of illegal immigration is particularly difficult because of the human element that Bannister and Ybarra, as local residents who have to wrestle with the soul of the situation, both touched upon. How do you maintain an international border - one that is physically and culturally porous - while ensuring that basic human rights are met? How do you prevent the weak from being exploited by human traffickers while recognizing the economic impetus for illegal immigration on both sides of the border?

The answer is comprehensive immigration reform by the federal government. If the Minutemen truly want to effect change, they should be reaching out to the legislative process in Washington instead of taking the law in their own hands.

Thanks to the Minuteman Project, with its unrealistic goal of sealing the borders, Southern Arizona has acquired a negative perception around the world as a staging ground for right-wing extremist groups - whether or not the local community reflects those views. There exists the potential for human rights abuses and violence if members of the project do any confrontation or are confronted by any parties out in the desert.

Most destructive of all, the project is perpetrating yet another layer of misunderstanding and fear to the issue of illegal immigration and border control.

Rui Wang is a third-year law student. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.