With the issue of immigration at the forefront of the nation’s consciousness, and the flashpoint being the Arizona-Mexico border, the release of a searing documentary “Crossing Arizona” could not have come at a better time. This balanced documentary is one of the best around. Produced & directed by Dan DeVivo and Joseph Mathews, it captures all aspects of the treacherous journey of the migrant along the U.S.-Mexico border. The filmmakers take a critical and analytical look at the impact of immigration policy and the rising tide of anti-immigrant sentiment.The film examines failed U.S. immigration policies and heightened security along California, New Mexico and Texas borders – actions that have led to the deaths of thousands of migrants since the mid-90s as they funnel into the most deadly terrain of the Sonora Desert in Arizona.Those interviewed include ranchers upset over foot traffic trampling their lands, to a mayor of a border town deeply troubled by the many deaths, to a Native American activist who puts out water for the migrants, to media hound and self-appointed, gun-toting border watcher Chris Simcox, to the migrants themselves and those who take them across the border to scores of passionate activists on both sides of the issue. “People don’t know the extent of the low intensity warfare that goes on there,” DeVivo told El Tecolote, “It’s in your face; it’s there all the time.” Adding to the fuel is the role the U.S. media plays in fear-mongering, who, said DeVivo, “loves to shift the blame to immigrants. There is so much hype.”In the 90s, U.S. border policy called for intensifying security at the border, and the flow of migrants shifted to Arizona. Ray Borane, mayor of Douglas, a border town, saw a sharp increase in the number of migrants there. Borane, who is critical of the current policies asks in the film: “Do you have any idea what it took that person who mows your lawn, who fixes your breakfast, who takes care of your kids. Do you have any idea the suffering they had to go through to get there? The money they had to spend? The families they left?”  Said Isabel Garcia, of Coalición de Derechos Humanos, a Tucson-based human rights group, “This policy has been directly responsible for over 3,000 deaths since the mid 90s. We have more people dying along the U.S.-Mexico border in one year, than in the entire history of the other wall that everybody knows about.”Implicit in this deadly exodus is the launching of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. NAFTA allowed the lowering of agricultural trade barriers which allowed transnational companies to undercut small farmers. The small farmers, who, unable to sell their goods, were forced to leave their families and country and send them money to survive.It is estimated that some 1.5 million peasant farmers were displaced because of NAFTA, according to watchdog group, Public Citizen.Said Garcia, “NAFTA does guarantee safe passage for capital, for goods and products, for tomatoes! We guarantee more the safety and the integrity of the crossing of tomatoes than we do of human beings.”Kelly Sheehan, supervising producer of “Crossing Arizona,” told El Tecolote that the crew had been filming for almost two years – since 2004 – but speeded up production last summer when they saw the immigration legislation heating up. “The reason we feel the film is so important, is that it really shows how the anti-immigrant situation has escalated. Our movie provides context behind the headlines and a big story about how we got to where we are today, and why it is such a complicated issue.” ♦“Crossing Arizona” is playing a the Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street @ Valencia, SF, through April 27. Screenings nightly at 7 & 9 pm. Additional Sat., Sun. and Weds. matinees at 2:30 and 4:45. For more info go to www.crossingAZ.com

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