The Bermudez Triangle

"Sometimes he does get in there, but most of the time he's throwing ideas," he says. "Sometimes you need to work away from him. If you're doing something that's not pleasing to him, he'll change the whole picture."

The relationship between Bermudez and the rest of Somos America became so tense that he soon split with the organization.

Reveles says he wanted to see the good in Bermudez, but others didn't.

"It was obvious there were people who were unwilling to work with him. Unfortunately, he has a way of acting that invites criticism," he says. "Personally, he's a very appealing person. He's a charmer. But his autocratic way of acting is what offends me. He's autocratic but, at the same time, extremely articulate, and I still feel he's attempting to do more than some of the comfortable Chicanos are doing who dare criticize him."

True, it's hard to think of a prominent Hispanic politician who has had the guts to campaign for the undocumented. And the nation's religious leadership has not made a move to take up the cause on moral, humane grounds. Reveles, who came of age during the civil rights movement led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., feels significantly demoralized when making comparisons between then and now.

"There was at least some hope there. I feel less hope here," he says. "There was some hope with moral leaders stepping forward and saying, 'Enough!' Here, where are the moral leaders? Where's my Catholic church? Where is the moral leadership from the highest level of my church?"

Without strong moral or political leadership, and with harsh laws stacking up against immigrants, the movement has been left in the hands of people like Bermudez.

But there are problems.

For one thing, Bermudez has a knack for making the other side look good, especially when it comes to his relationship with Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The names Bermudez and Arpaio often end up next to each other in newsprint.

In one of his most criticized public actions, Bermudez led several hundred people on a march to meet the sheriff outside his office. When he reached Arpaio, Bermudez fell to his knees to beg for mercy on behalf of his people. The act got a violently disgusted reaction from the Hispanic community, which saw it as a sign of weakness or a publicity stunt.

"If it was a publicity stunt, I never would have caught him off guard. His face was shaking. He didn't have an answer," says Bermudez. "I wanted him to know I am man enough to get on my knees and beg for mercy. Even though I was criticized, it came from my heart."

Then there was the time Bermudez used his radio show to talk hundreds of people into trusting Centro de Ayuda with their cash for immigration paperwork. When he felt the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, which would have increased border security but also granted citizenship to longtime undocumented immigrants and created a new guest-worker program, was certain to pass this summer, Bermudez told people to start a savings account of at least $300 with the Centro. He said that if the bill became law, the money would allow him to process their work permit applications faster. But reform never came, again leaving people wondering where the money went. Bermudez says he's returning it and has announced on the air several times that people should come to get their money.

That isn't the only time his business practices at the Centro were questioned. In late September he was served with a letter from the State Bar of Arizona asking him to cease and desist his document preparation at Centro de Ayuda, following a complaint by a former client.

The State Bar declined to comment, but did share with New Times the Department of Justice guidelines for rendering legal aid to immigrants. To represent an alien in immigration proceedings, you have to be either a licensed attorney or a member of an organization approved by the Board of Immigrant Appeals. Approved organizations and individuals are listed on the Web site of the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Neither Bermudez nor Centro de Ayuda come up in a search.

Bermudez sees the order as another political attack. He offered to share the Bar's complaint with New Times, but as of press time, he has not made it available.

"I did not do unauthorized law. I file forms. Now they say I have to stop my business or they are going to take it to the attorney general for prosecution," he says. "It's part of doing what we are doing [with Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras]. There's a whole bunch of others who do this and they're not even bothered. I think someone put them [the former client] up to this. I'm willing to go the distance. If I lose my business so be it."

Whether or not he loses Centro de Ayuda, Bermudez is clearly not giving up the fight. A few weeks after the radio show in which he told his listeners to go back to Mexico, he changed strategies. He's no longer telling people to abandon the sinking ship. Now, he's asking them to pay to patch up the holes by donating to the organization.