I am struggling to explain -- or at least reason out -- the complicated issues connected with Mexico's borders right now.
I can honestly say that I hadn't concentrated on the human price paid at the Mexican border -- Until we came here, to McNeal, Arizona.
We live in Colorado -- a heavily Latino state, to begin with. (Hispanics are actually the majority culture in Denver area schools.) Spanish is almost as common as English, and there are few ways to determine who came here legally -- or not. They may have come last year...or 25 years ago...or their ancestors may have been here for generations. It's not clear -- nor do I generally care, if they're paying their way (including taxes), contributing positively to our world and living honest.
The Denver skyline (Wikipedia). BIG difference.
But I should have paid more attention.
You must consider the personal element, when you talk about the border issue -- not just numbers, groups or generalizations. (And definitely not just politics, although that is certainly playing into the current response.)
THIS HUMAN PRICE AFFECTS PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER.
It piles up, and not just for people who are trying to enter the U.S. legally.
They may have been traveling for months to get there...and arrive with little besides the clothes on their backs. Who will feed and house them while they're waiting -- what do they do, if they get deported, instead?
They may send their children in alone, whether 'accidentally' or deliberately. (Yes, I know some of the reasons -- including the hope that once the kids are in, the parents can join them.) But how can the kids be protected, when this is done? (The two little girls recently tossed over the border wall may have been thrown over by their coyote handlers...but their parents paid for the trip, and sent them alone. Two more kids hoisted over the wall had their mother's name and phone number written on their arms. They were 5 and 6. This is unfathomable to me.)
Obviously, these immigrants are hoping to enter.* One-third have been denied and sent back, according to the Biden administration. But the others get to stay in a strange limbo until their situation is examined. That's difficult, too. And of course, they need to be housed, fed and taken care of during that waiting period.
*One of my Gentle Readers has pointed out, not so gently, that if they're doing it the legal way, they're not "illegals" -- and he's right, even if the phrase "illegal immigrants" is being used repeatedly in news reports. (I don't think I said this phrase for the legal entrants... but I apologize if I slipped and used it.) For those sneaking across the border, though, I beg to differ.
Overcrowding is evident, when photos are allowed. (Notice I said 'when.') The anguish, tiredness and frustration on the immigrants' faces is evident, as well.
But the price is also being paid by Americans who already live here.
People in the border states are taking on a much heavier burden than other states, trying to care for the influx of immigrants. Do you honestly think that Kansas has as much interest in this situation, as Texas? Or Arizona? Or New Mexico?
The Border Patrol has had their hands full. We heard what the local situation is like, from a local guard. According to him, they're exhausted, just trying to keep up with the regular work -- and detaining those who sneak in and around the standard entry points. The guard said that out of the people they've caught doing the latter, 4 out of 5 have been armed. And they're not exactly happy to go back to Mexico -- he had one man, who was driving, make a very credible attempt to run him over.
It does no good to start preaching about gun control, in this situation, and expect that to solve the problem. The people 'packing' are not from the U.S. They don't have to follow the gun laws we already have in place. (Colorado has some of the more stringent gun laws in the country, in spite of the Boulder shootings.)
And this is from Douglas, AZ/Agua Prieta, Mexico, by the way: one of the calmer border entry points. (We're currently living about 20 miles from Douglas -- but Mexico is ten miles closer to the church we've been attending. Many of the people who attend live even closer than that...easily within a few hours' walking distance.) Douglas doesn't have nearly as many people trying to enter as, say, San Ysidro/Tijuana, where government officials were forced to close the border for several hours to try and straighten things out.
Our older friends, who live out in the desert only a few miles away from the border, are honestly frightened. They've already had potentially scary situations, and are facing the reality that this will probably just get worse.
I feel concerned for them, too. The chance of murder, assault and theft are not an easy thing to prepare for -- and criminals have crossed illegally. (We know this, because some have been caught doing it.) But the people crossing over this way honestly need help. What else can our friends do, but help them? If you're living in Colorado, you don't have to deal with that fear -- or run that risk -- every time you answer a knock on the door late at night. If you're from Missouri or Nebraska, Iowa or Illinois, you generally don't have to come up with a hot supper and fresh clothes for a group of hungry, exhausted people on the spur of the moment...and what will you do, after that?
Yet if these people need help, they also cannot be turned away... no matter how frightened or uncertain you are about taking them in, or helping them. It would not be right.
Yes, the U.S. has to come up with the extra funds somehow to cover these increased expenses with legal immigrants trying to cross over. This is fact -- and has been for a long, long time, no matter how many people are making the attempt.
Yes, they also have to keep the illegal crossings in check somehow -- or at least regulate it. There's even some talk about continuing to finish the Wall to help with this -- which I find interesting, considering the brouhaha about it during Trump's administration. And of course, that will cost extra, too. Yet another price that Americans have to pay, in a time when the U.S. deficit is wildly out of control.
It's not the "immigrant" issue, either. Nearly every person in the U.S. didn't have ancestors that started here. (With the exception of friend Tommy, who enjoys saying that his ancestors were watching from the bank when the Pilgrims -- including William Brewster, his wife's relation-- showed up. How his Pueblo ancestors got that far east, I'm not sure.) The Brick's and my families all emigrated to the U.S., from various directions and times. Anyone who pegs us -- or anyone else struggling with these issues -- as racist simply does not understand that. It has nothing to do with skin color or DNA.
Our country has always welcomed people wanting to live here; that's not the issue. The problem is how to welcome and care for them, if they arrive in increasingly-large numbers. If they come, will they also become American citizens, if they're staying?
What a mess. A human, worrisome one. I'm hoping Vice President Harris actually visits one of the busier border crossings. She needs to see it with her own eyes, instead of engaging in 'meetings.' UPDATE: Two country's presidents have now accused President Biden's words of jumpstarting this crisis. VP Harris now says she'll go to both Mexico and Guatemala to meet with the presidents. (To persuade them otherwise, no doubt.) Not head to the border -- no, she's staying away from there. Guatemala first, she thinks. Well, I guess that's something, at least.
I wish the Biden administration had a magic solution for all this -- but they don't. And are they really trying to find one?
Nobody has a solution. So far, at least. Me included.
No comments:
Post a Comment