Here you go - this will help make it clearer.
And this....
And this....
Posted on 02/16/2008 8:35:06 PM PST by kathsua
I now have tasted the good life. Sunshine. Leisure. Camaraderie. Bare legs in January. Time to kill.
Five days as a "winter Texan" is an experience that is old hat to many of my generation including a number of my friends. But it was new to me.
Life at the border is different - culturally, racially, linguistically. It features a diversity well established. A diversity much of our European-settled nation is just now experiencing.
And it seems to work. My hosts saw nothing strange about breakfast at Chapita's in Harlingen, Texas, lunch across the border at Garcia's in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, and dinner at Pepe's Backyard on the River. It was just another day at the border.
Nuevo Progreso seems to be a city dedicated totally to the doing of business with the "winter Texans." Lots of shops, lots of drugstores and lots of dental offices. The concentration of medical services surprised me. It should tell us something.
Five days certainly qualifies no one as an expert on immigration issues. But in that time, one can observe enough to ask some questions. And see some reality. And wonder about all those casting opinions about with even less experience and knowledge.
During our stay, a mother with two teenage sons attempted to swim the river near the Progreso bridge. The 13-year-old drowned. One has to wonder about the desperation that drove this family to such a tragic end. And one sees that desperation on the streets of Nuevo Progreso.
The immigration debate in the U.S., while finding agreement on little else, seems to be moving toward a consensus that we need to make a strong effort to control our border. Homeland security demands that we know better who is entering our country. Without considering the issues of quotas or guest workers or paths to citizenship, improved border control seems desirable.
Yet, we should beware of the simplifiers who would have us believe this is only a policy decision. It will be darned tough to implement. Only an estimated half of illegal immigration comes through the Mexican border. Border control doesn't even touch those who outstay their student visas or who convert temporary residency status into something more permanent. Nor does it affect those who enter in hundreds of other places in our country.
When two peoples exist side-by-side, united in heritage and culture and language, with one relatively affluent and the other in abject poverty, and separated only by a thin stream of water, problems can be expected. And yet more order at the border is imperative. Unfortunately, some of the current legalistic bomb-throwing seems designed simply to garner votes from those who confuse rhetoric with results.
The river isn't the only problem. Highway 77 parallels the gulf for many miles north of Harlingen. Mesquite as far as the eye can see. A helicopter is overhead and plenty of Border Patrol is on the ground. But obviously the effort is not totally successful. Maybe the fence and the electronic stuff will work. But it appears to me to be a formidable task.
Immigration is a tough issue. I am as conflicted as most people are concerning an appropriate course of action. I hear Lou Dobbs and those who share his viewpoint rail about the issue believing it is destroying our nation. I don't question their sincerity.
In another responsibility, I listen to Kansas employers decry the shortage of skilled labor and even the shortage of trainable people with an adequate work ethic to supply workforce needs.
I hear economic development professionals say that development cannot occur in sparsely populated areas without more people.
I read comments by Bishop Jackels suggesting the need to balance our desire for border control with the necessity for Christian compassion and the "right of people to migrate in search of what is needed to live in human dignity."
I listen to demographers present data indicating the birth rate in the U.S. is at population maintenance and that all growth is now dependent upon immigration.
I envy those we hear from so frequently who have all of the answers and who are so sure of their correctness. Ideological purity can be comfortable. It eliminates the need for thinking. And thinking can be uncomfortable.
Trying to understand the viewpoints of others is difficult. Weighing the needs of multiple sectors and the needs of various geographic areas is not easy. Balancing the need for immigration control with our values is trying. But like many of our problems, if the solution were easy it would have been found long ago.
It might be easier just to head south again. Deciding between fishing or a trip to the dog track seems easier. The weather is better. The good life beckons.
Ignoring problems is something we all do pretty well.
Jack Wempe grew up in the Hutchinson area and is a former educator, state legislator and member of the Kansas Board of Regents now living in Lyons. E-mail: jwempe1@cox.net.
What’s wrong with that clown? Doesn’t he know they caught two Middle Eastern guys crossing last week? Not to mention the two in Kuwait with Mexican passports
Some people are just defective.
[Right now..the middle class Mexican can’t come for a visit because... ]
I have been down there a hundred times and don't find that true. Every time I cross the bridge the Mexicans are streaming across in droves, to do their shopping, to do housework, etc. I know of Mexican hispanic women who do live in work for 5 days and go back home every weekend!
“Currently, the U.S. does not have any system for tracking visa holders, or apprehending those who overstay their visas.”
http://www.tcf.org/Publications/HomelandSecurity/visatracking.pdf
.
FR is loaded with many open borders sleepers
Juan Hernandez! We know you and your horde of invading illegals are here!
Lol, and Pedro too!
Here you go - this will help make it clearer.
And this....
And this....
Good graphics posting devolve.
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It is funny
But a tragic betrayal as well
If you don’t catch viewers eyes your endless pages of wonderful words is useless
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Bad for area Border Patrol agents, their families, Texans, and loyal honest Texas hispanics
This could be a huge wedge issue and GW blew it
Yes, he blew it big time.
There is a huge fight going on now AGAINST the fence by landowners along the Rio Grande. Large amounts want to be taken for border patrol roads. Landowners won’t be able to have access to the water for cattle, etc.
Bump!
. Border could be closed in 5 minutes . The AlCan Highway was built in under a year
Isn’t it great that the 9/11 hijackers came here...LEGALLY, and overstayed their visas? They were just crashing the planes Americans wouldn’t crash...
[Border could be closed in 5 minutes]
Well, I would have to talk with you longer on that. If you mean the ‘crossings’, etc.
Like from under toadstools and from behind clouds?
I’ve been to South Texas. Lived and worked on Padre Island. I am also in the restaurant business. I work with Mexicans everyday. They are wonderful people. None of that has squat to do with the immigration issue. It isn’t our fault that Mexico chooses to be a corrupt and tyrannical country. It is out fault if we don’t enforce our own laws. We cannot save the world, we cannot even save Mexico. It would destroy our country if we tried. And they would be right where they are now, only without us to lean on.
Feelings do not matter. The best thing we can do for ourselves and Mexico is wean them from the easy safety valve, and cash that props up their corrupt government, and wean ourselves from the cheap labor they provide. Get over your feelings and think like an adult.
“to take manual labor jobs that citizens don’t want like working in southwest Kansas meatpacking plants.”
Before the flood of immigration drove wages down those meatpacking jobs attracted plenty of America workers.
Like in Korea - A real border enforcement —— Like in South Mexico - A real border enforcement
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