State of Defense (State of Arizona Book 1)

by Doug Ball

  “All contracts with the state will be renegotiated during the next ninety days.

  “This entire plan will be published on our website www.Arizonasreforms.gov, by local and statewide news media, and printed copies will be available at county court houses and city halls throughout the State of Arizona.

  “We are asking California, New Mexico and Texas to join us in this endeavor.

  “Ditat Deus.

  “Goodnight.”

  The screens went back to their regularly scheduled programming as though nothing had happened. There was no follow-up commentary given.

  The crowd in the Rusty Cactus cheered while the bartender poured a round on the house. The white wine and Scotch drinkers quietly ordered another round and continued their mating dances. La Cantina de Caballeros emptied with angry words and breaking glasses being drowned out by the sound and smell of fear.

  The streets of Arizona emptied as families gathered, some for protection and others consolation or contemplation.

  Law enforcement officers were activated in all areas with half being on duty at any given moment.

  The Arizona National Guard was on high alert.

  All was very quiet.

  The Governor let loose and bawled shamelessly.

  2

  7 June

  Phoenix, Arizona

  Midnight

  “What happens now?”

  “Well, Madam Governor, if I were to venture a guess I would say that there will be some rioting or at the least serious protests all over the state, and counter protests will walk the same streets. Someone will do something stupid and the shooting or at the least brawls will start. Our law enforcement officers are going to be busy for the next week or so. By that time, the trouble makers will be gone, deported or imprisoned.”

  “Thank you for that, Art. You have always been my best advisor. Now, roll over here and just hug me.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  The Office Bar

  Phoenix, Arizona

  Midnight

  For the Majority Leader of the Arizona State Senate, Merle Hopkins was not what you would call a handsome man, but he was impressive. His blonde thatch of hair went every which way when he was due for a haircut, as he was now. He stood at a high table, all six foot one of him about as big around as a pencil. Freckles covered his face and all other exposed skin. The suit he wore was obviously very expensive or at the least extremely well-tailored; it looked good on him. The fish belly Stetson he wore sported a feather from some kind of hawk. To top it all off, he was known as The Hawk all over the state.

  “Philomeno, I don’t care too much what your holdout in the Hispanic Caucus has to say. He has blocked or fought against every attempt we have made to deal with the illegals problem. Nothing we have tried to do has made him happy. Nothing short of another amnesty will make him happy. I’m glad there’s only one dissenting vote remaining, but Julio is an army of trouble all by himself.”

  “You’re right, Merle. He’s a whiner and a loud one. But, you and I both know when he talks to the press they will plaster his face all over page one above the fold and he’ll be at the top of the TV news sound bites. Is there no carrot we can toss him to allow him to save face with his mostly illegal, and relatives of illegals, constituency?” He sipped his beer, a Heineken.

  “Not that I can think of. You have any suggestions?” taking a large slug from his Bourbon and water.

  “No.” A sip. “Wait a minute, we could offer to deport his mother-in-law, they fight all the time.”

  “He’ll no doubt go to the press and inform them he was the only remaining holdout in the Hispanic Caucus and that will impact the rest of you. And, the rest of us. I might add.”

  “We will survive. The thinking Hispanics in Arizona know that something needs to be done. Many of them need the help that will have to be cut if the illegals question is not dealt with. Especially the older ones.”

  “What did you think of the idea of using the non-violent offenders as field workers when needed to replace the illegal workers that will now be gone?”

  “Good idea. But, the possibility of escapes will be high.”

  “They won’t do it more than once. Five dollars an hour in the fields provides a better life in prison than fifty cents an hour does for those who are not allowed outside the fences.”

  “Let the lawsuits begin.”

  8 June

  The Southern Border

  8 AM

  The price of forged green cards went up overnight, only to be made worthless in the morning when a second border station was set up 50 feet further into the state by Arizona Highway Patrol and Arizona National Guard troops who would let no one into the state without an Arizona work pass to go with the Federal card. The Border Patrol finally invited the Arizona crews to join them at the checkpoint to facilitate turnarounds. By eight in the morning the backed up traffic extended deep into Mexico at all checkpoints. Anyone leaving Arizona was waved thru to the Mexican authorities without so much as a blown kiss good bye.

  By 9:00 AM, tents had been erected where needed at checkpoints for the folks coming north with proper documentation to acquire an Arizona work pass. Each was screened with phone calls to their place of work. No fewer than two calls were made by two different people to get the verifications. All were told they had thirty days to apply for a one year visa to enter the state to work.

  Many of the border crossings were plowed and then ditched, six strand barbed wire fences six feet high were erected at the crossings and concertina wire was laid on both sides of the fence. Sniper towers were being erected at all crossings where a hill or roof top could not be used. Warning signs were hung on the fences stating where the nearest open crossing was and that those who attempted to cross would be fired upon. The bottom line stated that anyone firing back or across the border would be fired upon vigorously. A skull and cross bones in bright red filled the bottom half of the signs above the warning.

  State entry points, facilities left over from the agriculture checks to the north, east and west were manned by DPS personnel and ADOT manpower. All traffic was funneled into one lane, each and every individual was checked, and many of the vehicles were required to open trunks and doors. If one illegal was found the entire vehicle was searched, turned around and released after all ID was recorded.

  Those exiting the state were not even slowed down.

  The first real problem came at 9:05 AM at the border with Utah above Fredonia. Two men in a jeep ran around the check point through a liquor store parking lot and back to the pavement. Two M-4’s manned by Arizona National Guard personnel opened up on the tires, the jeep flipped, and both men were thrown from the vehicle. Two drunks late for work didn’t make it that day, instead they were transported back across the border to Kanab and placed in care at the Medical Center there for multiple bumps, bruises, and one broken leg. Their ID was recorded and they were told not to try to enter Arizona again.

  Double guards were placed on all in-use gates at Military bases of any type, all other gates were locked tight and backed up with concrete barricades. Shared airports were locked down until heavy security could be put in place. PHX International was released to fly civilian flights at 10:47 AM. The military side was cordoned off with guards posted.

  #

  So it went throughout the state. Folks found out fast that the Governor wasn’t joking.

  #

  At 11:00 AM the news broke, the remaining holdout in the Hispanic caucus would be leading a protest in front of the Capitol at 1:00 PM. Only three thousand folks showed up and kept it peaceful. The news helicopters circled for an hour before going back to the hangar. The protest was basically a dud as far as the news folks were concerned.

  #

  At noon the first protest started on the border to the south.

  Three hundred armed individuals gathered at Naco demanding that the entry point be opened or else. After much talking back and forth, a National Guard Major used the public a
ddress system built into the Humvee that was his roving headquarters to ask, “Or else what?”

  Someone south of the border opened fire, the Major yelled into the mike, “Commence firing on all armed targets.”

  Within moments the firing slowed, the armed Mexicans dispersed leaving 23 bodies lying in the street, by the Major’s own count. One man on the roof of a building near the Major’s location yelled down, “I count 25, Major. Couple of them are moving.”

  “Cease fire.”

  #

  Two individuals tried to cross the border into Arizona in the Coronado Peak area south of Sierra Vista and were warned by bull horn to turn around. One of them pulled a gun and both of them died 20 feet into Arizona.

  #

  More than 7,000 vehicles went south before noon. Most were loaded with families and household goods. Another 10,000 plus similarly loaded vehicles, headed north, east, and west.

  #

  The Governor’s briefing that evening was short and to the point. Things were happening as foreseen.

  #

  Riots broke out in South Tucson, Guadalupe, Yuma, and Phoenix almost as if there were a coordinating organization.

  South Tucson

  7 PM

  In South Tucson riots began which brought law enforcement and Arizona Guard into the area in full riot gear. The first Humvee to enter the area was hit with no less than four Molotov cocktails and burst into flames. After a few heartbeats, the occupants came out shooting and retreated to the two armored personnel carriers that pulled to a quick stop to their rear.

  No further violence occurred as armed patrols roamed the streets.

  Yuma Marine Corps Air Station

  7:20 PM

  Yuma also started with fire. A flaming truck was aimed at the main gate of the USMC Air Station. A quick burst of small arms fire took out the front and left rear tires causing the truck to swerve left off the approach road and slam into a barricade. A small woman jumped from the truck and ran to a waiting green low rider convertible. She jumped head first into the car just as the driver hit the gas, only to be stopped when it ran into an arriving Yuma Police vehicle. Two Marines assisted the Yuma PD Officer in the rescue of the driver and the girl. Six more very ready Marines stood in the gate as if to dare anyone else to mess with them. Two of the Marines appeared to be Hispanic. The Yuma Police Officer was Hispanic and spoke Spanish to the captured pair as he cuffed them none to gently face down on the road.

  The driver and woman being pulled from the wreck by the Yuma Police Officer with the support of the very ready Marines made the Ten O’clock news.

  Guadalupe

  7:40 PM

  In Guadalupe a mixed crowd of Hispanics, Anglos, Blacks, and whatevers marched down the middle of Guadalupe Road to Interstate 10 where an estimated fifteen thousand men, women, and children of all races parked themselves in the middle of north and south bound I-19 stopping all traffic. Singing whatever songs came to mind in whatever language they drowned out the sound of car and truck horns as the traffic backed up for miles in each direction.

  The first law enforcement officer on the scene was a Black motorcycle DPS Officer who calmly proceeded to call the crowd’s attention to the minimum posted speed of 45 MPH posted which they were violating and began to write tickets as he walked through the crowd. The people thought that was so funny they begged him to write one for them. As he was writing, he kept his supervisors informed over his radio by locking the mike open so they heard every word he said on TAC 3.

  When he ran out of ticket forms he calmly got on his bike, fired it up, waved at the crowd, and drove away with the personal data of over a hundred and fifty folks in the crowd. By this time traffic had been rerouted down highways 60, 87, and 202, and a large number of government forces were in place. The crowd began to notice that they were surrounded by flashing lights and armed law enforcement.

  At four in the morning the last ID was checked and the legal ones sent home. The Interstate was reopened.

  No one was hurt. No damage had been done except for the slowdown of traffic through the Metro area east/west and north/south. An estimated 30,000 vehicles were rerouted.

  Amid protests of all they were leaving behind, eight hundred and fifty-one illegals were put on the gathered school buses and taken to the border with Mexico with nothing but what they had on, 23 proved to be legal residents of California and were transported to Blythe with the admonishment to never return to Arizona, six more were illegals from China and were put on the next plane out with connections to China, one was an illegal from Canada who also got put on a plane, and last but not least, 47 wanted felons were rounded up and sent to the 4th Avenue jail to be entertained by the toughest Sheriff in the country.

  South Phoenix

  8:10 PM

  The turmoil in South Phoenix was the worst. The battle there was a small civil war with neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother as the battle raged. South Phoenix was cordoned off and everyone leaving was passed quickly through check points after being scanned by dogs and officers for weapons and drugs. Bullets flew in all directions and no one was safe. Families hunkered down in their homes as close to the floor as possible as slugs whipped through the walls. Small groups fortified in walled yards began to form, but no one knew who was on what side of the argument until the supporters of Arizona started flying Arizona or U.S. flags and the ones against raised the flag of Mexico or showed no flag at all. The smartest ones just raised a white flag and took cover.

  By 10 PM the Arizona Guard moved through the neighborhoods. Megaphones on vehicles bellowed the message in English and then in Spanish, over and over, “Lay down your arms and raise a white flag or you will be fired upon.” Where a white flag went up the property was covered as the people were invited to step out and exit one at a time to be frisked and escorted out of the area aboard armored personnel carriers.

  Where no white flag went up a heavily armored vehicle moved in. The vehicle either breached the walls demanding surrender or some idiot started popping off rounds which brought retaliation very quickly and completely. Usually, a white flag went up without incident.

  By 6 AM all was quiet as troops worked their way down every block, through every house, until all was safe again. Then and only then, were people allowed to reenter the area. Surprising everyone were the numbers. Only 32 illegals were found and promptly bused south. Three were found, but refused to surrender their weapons. When one made a dumb move, all three died from rounds fired by soldiers, at least two of which were Hispanic soldiers.

  These were not the only places with problems, just the major ones. Various community fire departments were called upon to extinguish protest fires and law enforcement was overworked continuously throughout the night and the next day. There were even a few cases of some person making stupid decisions while brandishing a firearm and some civilian who was carrying a weapon put a stop to their protest with lead. All in all, 147 people died and over five hundred arrived at emergency rooms with problems of a lesser nature.

  3

  11 June

  Arizona State Capitol Governor’s Office

  8 AM

  “General, I’d like you to meet my husband, Art. Art, Major General Miguel Rios.”

  “Pleased to meet the Governor’s other half, Art. Please call me Mike. I am a proud Hispanic, but I am more an American.”

  “As it should be, Mike, as it should be.”

  “Art, I think you know Dezi Armistad, our DPS Director.”

  “Yes, dear.” He extended his hand, “We’ve whacked a few balls on the course together. He lets me beat him, now and then.”

  His hand was smothered by the big man’s, “Good to see you again, Art. When to you want to go 18 again and give me a chance to whup up on you?”

  “Well, maybe we can get the General to join us and really show us how it’s done by the Guard.”

  “That would be a joke. My handicap is a 52 as of my last round.”

  “I didn
’t know they went that high.”

  The three men laughed and looked to the Governor.

  “Gentlemen, get comfortable. We are waiting on three politicians, the Hawk, Philomeno Ruiz the Hispanic Caucus leader, and Anthony the Speaker. I have also invited our sole holdout Hispanic, Julio Villasanchez.

  “Before they arrive in 30 minutes or so, let’s make sure we are all on the same page.

  “General, you go first.”

  11 AM

  “Well, Mr. Villasanchez, will you support us now or will you continue to be the fly in the ointment of the salvation of Arizona?”

  Two hours of talk, questions, and more talk had gone by and still the man was quiet.

  After a strong silence of over a minute, “Madam Governor,” he put his hand to his face, rubbing his forehead, “I cannot betray my people,” he paused, dropping his hand, “They are the oppressed and suppressed of the nation of their birth, this nation, and Arizona. You will not be allowed to run rampant over them with your illegal, unconstitutional, dictatorial reforms. I will stand in your way to the death.”

  Everyone in the room started like an electric shock ran through their bodies and began speaking at the same time.

  “And, just what is unconstitutional about our reforms? The Constitution does not apply to illegal, unauthorized, no Visa, no work permit, aliens. It doesn’t even allow them to use our courts except as suspected, charged perps.”

  “I will call a press conference.”

  Turning to his assistant he added, “Set it up and get the grupo together within the hour. We have work to do.”

  He turned again, “Madam Governor, how else can I serve my people except to be the one voice crying aloud for justice? I can and will use the courts. You whites stole this land and we want it back, or at the very least our rightful place in it.”