Mike Wilson
Writer and Activist
Tucson, AZ
November 8th, 2025
Sitting on a colorful assortment of chairs in the Quincie Douglas Library in South Tucson, the Westies met with Michael “Mike” Wilson, a human rights activist, member of and former lay paster for the Tohono O’odham Nation, former US Special Forces, and coauthor of What Side Are You On? Mike began by discussing the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1993, which intentionally destroyed the domestic market for Mexican farmers by introducing U.S. government-subsidized corn and other crops to Mexico. The collapse of the agricultural community in Central America led many people to immigrate to the United States in search of work. In anticipation, the US government funneled migrants into the desert of Southern Arizona, including lands of the Tohono O’odham Nation, who were never consulted. While crossing, many thousands of migrants have died of dehydration. Feeling a moral responsibility to address this issue, Mike began working with Humane Borders, a nonpartisan human rights organization, to provide lifesaving water to migrants and to protect the human right to safe drinking water. The numbers of migrant deaths are startlingly represented by the Humane Borders’ Migrant Death Mapping project, an image Mike shared with us during our time with him. While Mike no longer works in water provision, he is committed to fighting against the abuses of US immigration policies. Through agricultural imperialism, migrant and native communities have been subjugated by the US Government. Mike tells us, “The police state can only exist when the population lives in fear of the Government.” As militarization of the US-Mexico border increases and immigrants’ livelihoods are threatened, becoming engaged in our communities and resisting fear as a means of control is crucial. It is also important to recognize that many communities, appropriately, live in a perpetual state of fear due to the violence perpetuated by our government. Mike’s perspective gave the Westies insight into the history and policies of the US-Mexico border as we travel through the American Southwest.
by Maea Fleming