One day in April of 2006, while monitoring Minutemen near the Mexican border, activist/lawyer Ray Ybarra spied a man hiding in a bush. The encounter forever altered his life, casting his calling in stone.

"It turned out to be man who had come waddling out of the desert. The man's skin had become so thick, I could not tell his ethnicity. He had been lost in the desert for four days, without food for two days, and without water for a day and a half. In one hand, he was carrying a jug of yellow liquid, his own urine he was drinking to stay alive. In his other hand he held a branch, his walking stick."

The man had set out across the border to find his family on the East Coast.

"He asked me for a ride," said Ybarra. "I gave him food and water, but had to tell him 'no,' about the ride, because transporting illegal migrants is a crime in the US. I was picturing what would happen to my career and my family if I were caught. But the man was unrelenting. The fifth time he asked, I had to ask myself 'If I am an activist, I have to do something more for this man and others like him.'"

Today, Ybarra, once the nemesis of the vigilantes known as the Minuteman Project, has shifted his energies from those gun-toting, fear-mongering activists to empowering beleaguered immigrants.

"My goal is to figure out ways to help the disaffected community of immigrants become more proactive in challenging erroneous conceptions and defending their rights. This will be a campaign of direct action like the Civil Rights Movement, rather than direct lobbying," he said.

Ybarra, who has been described by fellow lawyers and the media as important a civil rights leader in the Latino community as Cesar Chavez once was, is in town tomorrow to speak Out Loud about the tangled web of immigration.

His free talk takes place at the Ah Haa School at 7 p.m., right after the opening of a group show entitled "Borders," which features the different ways local artists interpret the notion of borders, from socio-political to interpersonal.

According to Ybarra, the subject of immigration — a hot-button issue in the 2008 presidential race — has been badly served by all the candidates.

"Not one candidate understands the border and why people are forced to cross," said Ybarra. "They all see immigration in terms of placating people's fears and containment, not as a human rights issue."

For Ybarra, migration is a fundamental human right — no matter what the law says. He believes the Immigration and Nationality Act and bills proposed to date, such as the one that died last June in the Senate, are immoral and/or grounded in quick sand. "Before we get an intelligent bill, we need an intelligent conversation," said Ybarra. "We need to re-envision immigration and get people to stop focusing on the negatives. America has always been a melting pot."

To turn the tables on immigration, Ybarra believes what is needed is a sustainable movement to battle the racism and xenophobia that underlines the policies and biases of policymakers.

"First I think we first need to stop looking at migrants as the other," he explained. "The optimist in me believes that if people — and I am including the vigilantes — would meet migrants face to face, break bread, hear their stories, they would lose any desire to be part of this terribly misguided segment of white America that rejects immigrants and immigration."

Another item on Ybarra's agenda is the need to dramatically reexamine the current system of legal immigration and turn it on its head. Not only is it fraught with chronic backlogs and ghastly inefficiencies, he says, but the system is also based on realities created by neo-liberal economic policies that look good on paper, but serve only to make the rich richer.

"Not one person I have talked to along the border, not one who has crossed, ever wanted to leave his home. It was an act of necessity based on the need to survive. That need is the result of neo-liberal economic policies, which lets the markets decide who wins and who loses," Ybarra said.

Farms in rural Mexico have been compromised by the Free Trade Agreement, Ybarra explained, which has allowed America to import coffee, beans and especially corn into Mexico from mechanized agro-businesses based in the U.S.

"As a result, rural Mexicans have been forced to move to the cities to find work in manufacturing. However, there are not enough of those jobs for everyone in line. Unlucky Latinos are left with no choice but to cross the border," explained Ybarra. In an ideal world, economic policies that leave people in despair would disappear. "Immigration is all about finding opportunities. If there were opportunities at home, people could stay in their communities with their families. I am not so much pro migration as pro survival," he said.

During his lecture, Ybarra plans to challenge his audience, particularly progressives, about their preconceived notions about migrants.

Ybarra also plans to address key questions in the debate on immigration, issues being tossed about like a political hot potatoes in the political arena:

• What should happen to the 12 million illegal immigrants already here? • Is a national identity a good option or a step towards Big Brother? • What should happen to companies that hire illegals? • How do we maximize the benefits and minimize the negatives of immigration? • What is the role of 9/11 in the debate? • What should be the role of local and state governments in enforcing immigration laws?