The bloody confrontation Thursday between rival Mexican smuggling gangs just south of the Arizona border is a jolt to the entire region. It has particular resonance for people like U.S. Rep Raul Grijalva of Arizona, whose father emigrated from the area of the shootout, which left 21 dead.
The violence took place between the hamlets of Saric and Tubutama, along a notorious smuggling corridor. Nearby is the town of Altar, which for more than a decade has been a major staging area for illegal immigrants headed for the Arizona border.
Saric was the hometown of Grijalva's father, who first came to the U.S. in 1945 as a bracero, working on a cattle ranch south of Tucson.
Grijalva was the subject of for a profile published last year by CIS, where he said "My dad used to tell me that we're lucky to live in this country (the United States) because if we were in Mexico, half the people wake up every day looking to screw the other half."
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