IN THE MAGAZINE

FOLLOW THE GPS, ÉSE

The Transborder Immigrant Tool Helps Mexicans Cross Over Safely

Published November, 2009

INTERVIEW BY ALEX DUNBAR

The Transborder Immigrant Tool in action. It’s not much to look at, but it has the power to safely guide migrant workers from Mexico to the US and back. (Photo by Ricardo Dominguez)

Over the past two decades, Ricardo Dominguez has been utilizing electronics and the internet to piss off just about every high-level administrative authority in the US. In the late 90s, his performance-art-cum-activist organization the Electronic Disturbance Theater (EDT) set up a participatory website-jamming network called the FloodNet system, which allowed anyone with an internet connection to gum up the official sites of the US Border Patrol, White House, G8, Mexican embassy, and others, rendering them inaccessible. The Department of Justice retaliated with an electronic attack on the EDT that aimed to destabilize the group and interrupt their online meddling. As any conspiracy wonk can tell you, it’s illegal for the government to use military force against civilians without declaring martial law; that’s the job of cops and FBI agents.

Dominguez, a Zapatista sympathizer and close friend of Subcomandante Marcos, claims the various forms of online mischief conducted by the EDT were experiments in electronic civil disobedience rather than true acts of sabotage. Their work led to massive virtual and physical sit-ins protesting the Mexican government between ’98 and ’99, attracting more than 100,000 participants. But his current project—the Transborder Immigrant Tool—is poised to enrage a much broader spectrum of the North American populace. By augmenting a low-cost Motorola phone with GPS and a battery of applications, Dominguez’s goal is to help illegal immigrants complete safe border crossings without being sent back by the Border Patrol or getting shot in the face by American “patriots.”

The primary goal of the Transborder Immigrant Tool is to increase safety during border crossing by directing heavy-footed immigrants to safe routes, shelter, food, water, and friendly sympathizers. With the recent surge in militia membership and the Obama administration’s announcement that they will be reducing the number of Border Patrol agents next year, it looks like we’re getting ready to witness a showdown for the ages. And Dominguez couldn’t be happier about the level of shit he is about to seriously disturb.

Vice: How did you first become involved in electronic civil disobedience?
Ricardo Dominguez: In the 80s I was a member of something called the Critical Art Ensemble. We wrote a series of books published in the 90s that speculated on what the future, and computers especially, might bring. Our core speculations were that we would see the emergence of three different arcs of capitalism in the 90s: digital capitalism, genetic capitalism or clone capitalism, and particle capitalism or nano-driven technology. We decided we would speculate not only on the artistic aspect of these emerging capitalisms but also on how we could intervene as artist-activists into each of these areas. We developed the idea of electronic civil disobedience as a way to mediate the emergence of digital capitalism. Some Critical Art Ensemble members have even been arrested for their work. One in particular, Steve Kurtz, was brought before a grand jury in 2004. Homeland Security considered his use of nonpathogenic bacteria in certain museum installations a bioterrorist threat.

Sounds grim.
But good has come out of it too. In 2000 I was invited to become a principal investigator at Calit2 (California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology) at the University of California in San Diego, and I’ve been there ever since.

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Comments

Anonymous, on Feb 2, 2010 wrote: "illegal" aliens are just a scapegoat used by the right, preying on your fears. "alien" cultures add tons to american culture as a whole. using illegals is just a wag the dog strategy to keep you from looking at who really drags our society and culture down and who really steals tax dollars: big corporation.
Anonymous, on Jan 18, 2010 wrote: "Please line up, say you’re sorry and bequeath your white privilege to a designated brown person. You’re on time-out for life." Eat shit, racist.
	Ross DeVille, on Jan 18, 2010 wrote: There is a novel called "The House of the Scorpion" by an author named Nancy Farmer. The united states and mexico agree to make a new country between them called "Opium". This takes care of border issues, drug cartels, black market trafficking, and Afghanistan’s clinch on the opiates market. A bunch of pretty fucked shit happens because of this, but politically it worked in the book/ it could work in real life/ it would be worth a shot, it sounds better than what we have now. That being said: Human rights matter so much more than your stupid fucking politics. How about all you conservative mouth-breathers grab your nuts and man-up and do the right thing. Quit acting like greedy pussies and share. You’re not defending the constitution, you’re hiding behind it like a bitch. Q: What is the bill of rights? A: All the shit that was wrong with America’s founding documents. Not even all of it, only the first 10 things. There’s what, 27 amendments? Think we fucked anything else up or are we perfect at 27. Dear Fuckers, Please line up, say you’re sorry and bequeath your white privilege to a designated brown person. You’re on time-out for life. Peace. Post Script: How about this: America and Mexico have a game of "capture the flag" where each teams flag is in their capital city and the half-way line is the border. No walls allowed, no guarding borders, no guarding flags, jails are in Cancun and Palm Springs. We play for a year, wherever you are at the end of the game - thats what team you’re on next. Winner plays Canada. How about that?
Anonymous, on Jan 18, 2010 wrote: everyone needs to grow up and not give a shit.
Anonymous, on Jan 11, 2010 wrote: "This is absurd. They are illegal aliens entering our country. It is true that America is made up immigrants, like my parents, who waited patiently for their visas until they came to this country. My father worked everyday of his life supporting his entire family and never spent one day of his life on welfare. He worked for everything he wanted, learned to speak the language, and raised a beautiful family. If you want to be in this country, do so the legal way and don’t depend on government assistance to take care of you while I’m working 2 jobs and going to school. This man should be in jail. What he is doing is not heroic, he’s just creating a bigger problem." Saying that the U.S. is a country made up of immigrants is nothing more than rhetoric used by the left to justify the actions of illegal immigration. There is no doubt that immigrants do live in the U.S., but they make up only 10-11% of the population, the rest being native-born; and are hence native americans (not to be confused with American Indians). If this argument applies then ALL countries in the world are countries of immigrants because people have moved continuously. In fact, Dubai has the highest concenctration of foreign-born people than any other country. Saying that the U.S. is a country of immigrants is nothing more than a way for illegals to belittle our national identity and sovereign laws. They think that this land belongs to them still, but it doesn’t anymore because (a) we stomped the in the Mexican-American War and (b) the Treaty of Guadalupe is when we bought the southwestern states from them. So, in a nutshell we own the U.S., legit. It’s not our faults that Mexico didn’t invest well in the money or it’s people are incapable of maintaining a civilization.
Anonymous, on Jan 11, 2010 wrote: This app isn’t fool-proof. What can be done is the Border Patrol or Minutemen can find these "watering stations" or pathways and booby trap them or keep a patrol in the midst. My own first-hand experience in illegal immigrant hunting is that watering stations, as mention in the article, are ran by volunteers (from both Mexico and the U.S.) and there locations tend to vary depending on safety and seclusion of areas. A majority of times if we do find these place we apprehend all those involved, usually deporting the illegals and arresting the citizens for aiding and abedding a federal criminal. However, this is not always the case because some watering stations will fight back and not surrender without a fight or skirmish. So, there’s your "civil action of humanity" when these people turn violent against citizens merely doing their job in upholding the laws of this country. They tend to say that the law is draconian and will only use it when it’s convenient for them - welfare services. Though if they think our laws are invalid to them, then due process should be invalid; enabling us citizens to enact on the second amendment against foreign infiltrators.
Anonymous, on Jan 7, 2010 wrote: illegal is illegal , these naiive do-gooders should be deported to the moon !
Anonymous, on Jan 6, 2010 wrote: I am "underwhelmed" by so called radicals who hide behind tenure to play the role of protestor.
Anonymous, on Jan 3, 2010 wrote: A safety device??... look i get it, it may b able to b used for that, and i’m sure it will help save lives. and i don’t care what nationality you are, or what country you come from, thats a good thing. but if you really want to make crossing the border safer, by making electronic devices available to the masses, then mabey u should give them a device that would allow them to more effectively and efficiently fill out the proper paper work to become legal american citizens. this GPS device will save lives, i have no doubt about that, but unfortunately it will also serve to help more and more mexican citizens believe that crossing the border in an illegal manor is now an even safer and easier alternative than following the law. the law may be flawed, but its still currently THE LAW!
Anonymous, on Jan 3, 2010 wrote: Keep them in their own country. All they are going to do is take a cash paying job for 1/2 the average wage for that job. A job that an American could have.They aren’t going to pay any taxes. And once they have accumulated years of wages they will cross the border and live the rest of their lives in that dreaded place they were so desperate to flee from. Its a big scam. I have seen it first hand in Texas many times. Now to the lowlife Americans who give these people jobs should be deported with them. And no i am no racist. I have many friends of ethnic groups. They went through the proper channels and got their citizenship. If Ricardo Dominguez wants to help them better themselves so bad, he should go to Mexico and help try change their country instead of destroying ours!!!!
Anonymous, on Jan 3, 2010 wrote: I agree. Mexico is a HOLE!! Everyone taking sides with the illegals needs to give them a place to stay at their house. Then 10 years later when you have a family of 50 there in your 3 bedroom house and your daughter was knocked up by 1 or maybe even 15 of them. Think bout the long term before your so quick to jump on the liberal band wagon.
Anonymous, on Jan 3, 2010 wrote: what needs to happen is we need to get rid of the restrictions against NON hispanics in immigration policy- if Jose and maria and their 11 kids want to come here then they will have to compete with the world flood the US with european immigrants to even the scales again it has already been shown that when it gets hard here they dont have any problem skimpering back across the border to mexico
Anonymous, on Jan 3, 2010 wrote: This is absurd. They are illegal aliens entering our country. It is true that America is made up immigrants, like my parents, who waited patiently for their visas until they came to this country. My father worked everyday of his life supporting his entire family and never spent one day of his life on welfare. He worked for everything he wanted, learned to speak the language, and raised a beautiful family. If you want to be in this country, do so the legal way and don’t depend on government assistance to take care of you while I’m working 2 jobs and going to school. This man should be in jail. What he is doing is not heroic, he’s just creating a bigger problem.
Anonymous, on Dec 30, 2009 wrote: This is a ridiculous, unrealistic project which lacks common sense and demonstrates an inability to understand the real issues at hand. People who participate in these types of projects aren’t trying to make the world a better place or honestly help people who are desperate enough to break laws and risk their lives to come here, they’re trying to show how clever they are, how much smarter than everyone else, and how they can piss on the laws and the government of their country and still get money from taxpayers for it. This is nowhere near a real solution for the issue of illegal immigrants, their deaths in the desert, and their impoverished situation. Why not take the money wasted on a project like this and put it towards real answers? Charities that help the impoverished in Mexico and other Latin American countries to have clean food and water, clothes, homes, to educate their children so they can move from the situation they are in, to fight corruption in their gov’t which as a student of Latin American politics I assure is not explained by simply blaming the US. True humanitarian work does not seek to get illegals safely across the border but to make that dangerous trek an obsolete action.
Anonymous, on Dec 29, 2009 wrote: How bout you give them them your Job for pennies on the dollar Mr. Dominguez?
Anonymous, on Dec 29, 2009 wrote: This is a great tool! Either the feds hack it and send all the illegals straight to CBP posts, or the Good Guys just hang out at the watering holes. Great idea and great use of my tax $$$
Anonymous, on Dec 12, 2009 wrote: Bravo, Ricardo, for saving lives of people impoverished by NAFTA and other U.S. policy, so desperate to feed their kids that they’ll come here -much of which WAS part of Mexico until the U.S. stole it. Idiots who hate "illegals" don’t realize they’re being manipulated by the same people who put them too out of work with NAFTA etc.
Anonymous, on Dec 9, 2009 wrote: A lot of the comments on this board are really racist and ignorant. "they should stay in their country and make it better" Seriously?!?!?! You have obviously never heard of the word imperialism. Latin Americans who come into the United States "illegally" do so because they have to, not because they wake up one morning and decide that they want to go on a trip. Latin America has been severely underdeveloped so that this country can economically prosper, forcing people out of their homes and away from their families. Furthermore, if you bothered to look at the statistic you would notice that immigrants do not use up our social services because they don’t have access to any of them, secondly they do contribute to our economy more so than most people. Educate yourself on a topic before you make yourself look like a racist fool.
Anonymous, on Dec 8, 2009 wrote: Ricardo Dominguez is aiding and abetting criminals that break our laws by illegally entering the USA or importing illegal drugs across the Mexican Border. He should be fired and indicted by the DOJ. What kind of background checks do they do at UCSD? He thinks that tenure is going to protect him for committing Felonies against the people of the USA. He is nothing but a Traitor and is committing Treason. I hope this article is used to help indict him for his crimes.
	juggler, on Dec 7, 2009 wrote: Too bad he received received tenure. As you noticed I signed up for your dumb little website because you were whining about people posting anonymously (of course you don’t allow a name to be used for unregistered users). So my question is, are you people who are applauding just hate America or are you a bunch of illegals? America is a nation of immigrants. Historically people immigrated to America legally and were proud to call themselves Americans. I suppose you people wouldn’t understand or identify with that. The point is this nation has a right to know who comes here and believe it or not some people should not be allowed in. I am sure you have no clue about what I am saying and totally disagree with it but enjoy your freedom in the country you hate because even you have rights as an American. Perhaps you should sit down and do some serious thinking about this issue.
Anonymous, on Dec 4, 2009 wrote: No saben manejar un mapa y una brujula y van a saber manejar un gps...
Anonymous, on Dec 3, 2009 wrote: Why not direct all this energy toward something useful, like disrupting Al Qaeda’s websites, finding Osama, etc.?
	DabblesInPacifism, on Nov 24, 2009 wrote: I know it’s easy for you Anonymous commenters to say do it legally and yadda yadda yadda. You do realize that this in all likelihood will either never happen in their lifetime, right? Who are you to say they don’t have the right to better their lives and the lives of their children? I think if you truly tried to put yourself in their situation you’d have much different thoughts on this.
Anonymous, on Nov 24, 2009 wrote: Actually, yes, I did read that "rubbish." If you enjoy good writing, whether it’s about dicks or cooking, you’ll like it. Sorry your attention span is shorter than your dick.
Anonymous, on Nov 24, 2009 wrote: I agree, they should stay where they are and try to change their country for the better instead of coming to America and and trashing our land. It can be their land too but LEGALLY. Most mexicans I know are hard working but there is a procedure for them to follow for a reason. Look at the laws of Mexico regarding immigration and you will find that it is so hard to become a citizen there that it literally is not worth it, universal healthcare is a joke and social security is broke. But Mexico is a country where the citizens, except rich ones, don’t pay taxes anyway so not paying taxes in America is a no brainer for them. But if they are going to be here and use our services, they do need to pay for them.
Anonymous, on Nov 24, 2009 wrote: I agree, they should stay where they are and try to change their country for the better instead of coming to America and and trashing our land. It can be their land too but LEGALLY. Most mexicans I know are hard working but there is a procedure for them to follow for a reason. Look at the laws of Mexico regarding immigration and you will find that it is so hard to become a citizen there that it literally is not worth it, universal healthcare is a joke and social security is broke. But Mexico is a country where the citizens, except rich ones, don’t pay taxes anyway so not paying taxes in America is a no brainer for them. But if they are going to be here and use our services, they do need to pay for them.
Anonymous, on Nov 24, 2009 wrote: This was so so SO fucking boring. Is this the Times site cleverly disguised as Vice??? I preferred Vice when it wasn’t totally fucking gay. I’m not even gonna start with that 7 page RUBBISH about an ex-hardcore drummer becoming a chef. Does anyone really give a shit??? If the answer is yes then I am on the wrong page for reals
Anonymous, on Nov 19, 2009 wrote: Actually isn’t it a felony to aid and abet the illegal crossing of our borders?
Anonymous, on Nov 17, 2009 wrote: When are you going to figure a way to keep me from having to pay for your civil disobediance, the people you are hurting by supporting illegal’s in this country are us working slobs that have no recourse when selfish, and ignorant children like you play your childish games.
	Taylor, on Nov 16, 2009 wrote: Why don’t some of you crybabies here log in and comment from a real account? I’m guessing because it’s the same few people coming back over and over again leaving such idiotic comments.
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