Yet another day on the illegal alien trails

17 May 2003 | Luis Martinez/JackelopeBreeder

[JackelopeBreeder]

This was a very strange morning. Instead of the usual checking of trails, I went out with a local Adopt-a-Canyon group to help pick up trash in Hunter Canyon. There are six major canyons south of Sierra Vista, all have been trashed by the high volume of illegal immigrant and drug smuggler traffic.

This is going to sound kind of strange at first, but bear with me, while I fill in the background. In 1973 I was a freshman at University of Arizona. My favorite subject that year was anthropology. Professor Zegura taught physical anthro; Professor Rathje taught cultural anthro. I preferred physical anthro, but was amused by Professor Rathje’s newly started “Garbage Project”. His premise was that you could learn much about a modern culture just by subjecting its garbage to serious perusal and comparing it to the trash from other cultures. Thirty years later the “Garbage Project” is still alive and well – and useful.

It was a very educational morning. We came up with about three truck loads of trash and there is still plenty more out there. Aside from one Heineken bottle and three Bud Light cans, the rest was Mexican label. Most was the typical water bottles, jugs, tuna cans, etc. and the usual third world black plastic bag luggage.

(Also one set of fresh mountain lion tracks; last night may have been interesting for some folks.)

However, we also came up with a couple of dozen nearly new backpacks, a lot of very good quality clothing – most of it clean and some of it brand new – and quite a collection of toiletries and cosmetics. The food trash was also much higher class than what I have found in the past closer to the border. These were not groups of poor campesinos escaping from the bean farm.

Something new has popped up in the last week or so, first in Stump Canyon, now in Hunter Canyon. Airline tickets – lots of airline tickets. These people are flying from Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey or wherever into Hermosillo, which is only 175 miles south of here, then taking the short three-hour bus or taxi ride to their jump off point.

It seems we have two classes of travel. Most of Coach Class comes in between Douglas and the San Pedro River, while most of Business Class takes the scenic route through the canyons.

There is another lesson here. The reason we find this much trash in the canyons is that this is where these people catch their ride – within five miles of the border. There used to be several Border Patrol checkpoints about 35 miles north and the chances of getting caught were much higher. Our local congresscritter, Jim Kolbe, pressured the Border Patrol into closing them all. Travel is now muy convenient.

And now for the lighter side of the news. Allow me to introduce myself under my new name. I am now Luis Martinez, and I have an authentic Mexican birth certificate to prove it. (A twelve year old kid could mass-produce these things on a computer with no problem whatsoever.) A little hair dye and I’m right in character. Any bets on how long it will take me to obtain a matricula consular?

[JackelopeBreeder]

I also considered a broadcast message listing the names on the airline tickets, maybe tip off the friends and families that they were enroute and it was about time to fire up the barbecue grill and ice down the beer.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Ping!

[MadMoo]

Bump!

[TheMole]

I've read some of Bill Rathje's stuff, and it is indeed useful. He probably couldn't get tenure today.

[RS]

"I also considered a broadcast message listing the names on the airline tickets, maybe tip off the friends and families that they were enroute and it was about time to fire up the barbecue grill and ice down the beer."

I think it would be a great public service to post these - They may want to come and claim their lost backpack.

[JackelopeBreeder]

I wonder if Luis wants his birth certificate back?

[4Freedom]

"I wonder if Luis wants his birth certificate back?"

Nah, Luis probably sold that copy to a guy named Akmed from Irag with instructions to throw it away as soon as he crossed the border.

[Travis McGee]

Bienvenidos a America del Norte, Luis!

[Billy_bob_bob]

How long before everybody in the country figures out the "new deal" of our times, learns Spanish, dyes their hair, and gets a fake Mexican birth certificate? Jackpot! You can drive without a license, and if you plow into a family the cops just say "get out of here, you scamp!" If you need medical care, just go to the local hospital and say "Me illegal. No habla ingles. Me muy sick!" and you get free medical care. Then you can go and apply for free food stamps and social security benefits. What a deal!

Buenos Noches, amigos!

[JackelopeBreeder]

But, senor, this is a genuine authentic birth certificate.

[sarcasm]

When are you getting your own Matricula Consular?

[JackelopeBreeder]

Gotta dye my hair first, work on my tan, and get some brown contact lenses. Or maybe not. Supposedly Vicente Fox is also half Irish so their is existing precedent.

[sarcasm]

You have quite a selection of Mexican Consulates in Arizona:

Arizona

Douglas
1201 F Avenue, Douglas, AZ 85607
Tel: (520) 364-3142 * Fax: (520) 364-1379

Nogales
571 N. Grand Ave., Nogales, AZ 85621
Tel: (520) 287-2521 * Fax: (520) 287-3175

Phoenix
1990 W. Camelback, Suite 110, Phoenix, AX 85015
Tel: (602) 242-7398 * Fax: 242-2957

Tucson
553 S. Stone Ave., Tuscon, AZ 85701
Tel: (520) 882-5595 * Fax: (520) 882-8959
E-mail: contucmx@mindspring.com

[TLI]

Any bets on how long it will take me to obtain a matricula consular?

How long is the line to the Desk....  + 2 minutes.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Douglas is closest and least busy, but for full ironic effect I was thinking of tracking down one of the "honorary consuls" and let them take care of my needs.

[joesnuffy]

There used to be several Border Patrol checkpoints about 35 miles north and the chances of getting caught were much higher. Our local congresscritter, Jim Kolbe, pressured the Border Patrol into closing them all. Travel is now muy convenient.

Now why in the world would Jim Kolbe pressure the BP into closing their checkpoints?

[Marine Inspector]

(A twelve year old kid could mass-produce these things on a computer with no problem whatsoever.)

I deal with those things daily. The matricula consular is just as fake looking.

[Marine Inspector]

Now why in the world would Jim Kolbe pressure the BP into closing their checkpoints?

Votes.

[JackelopeBreeder]

I wish you hadn't said that. Here I am, trying to be an honest, hard-working, brand-new Mexican and you start tossing temptations my way. Or is this entrapment?

I could quit my day job and print birth certificates and matriculas all day while surfing Free Republic. Naked if I wanted to; the dogs don't care. That's even better than the scheme to set up a taco and cerveza wagon out on the border at night.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

For sometime I have considered maybe returning the favor and doing a illegal cross border excursion into Mexico. But frankly I don't have the courage, for I don't expect the gentle treatment of a hot meal and paid bus ride back to the US.

I have often wondered, what would be the reaction for all concerned if a few hundred, or few thousand Gringos showed up with the media's cameras rolling. Simply attempted to illegally cross the border to provoke the federales there in old Mexico.

I bet the full weight of the border patrol and the law would be brought to bear against us as American citizens. No free pass for us, like Mexicans and other illegals coming north with impunity, aided and abetted by the libs, dems, ACLU, and left wing churches. Nada help from them, hell they will be the ones bringing law suits against us.

Why not a little payback, I want the right for us to buy and own real estate. If I can pay for it, I want title free and clear to some Baja beach front property. I want to start a business in Mexico without all the restrictions being placed on me and being treated like a damn Gringo foreigner. I want any and all of the available social services same as any other Mexican(if any?) as it is our right.

Any takers for a en masse Gringo run for the border? Are we as brave as the north bound ones? Let's shed a little sunshine on some equal treatment by the Mexican government and their cohorts here in the US.

You know, What the hell is in this for us as they all pour north? I demand equal treatment by the Mexican government in all the things the illegals demand here in the US as their right. What is good for the goose, is good for the gander.

By GOD as a Gringo, I demand dual citizenship and all my civil rights in Mexico as I have here under the US constitution.

[Sparta]

Buenos Noches Luis.

About how many illegals come across every night?

[JackelopeBreeder]

Hard one to answer; my knowledge is restricted to Cochise County and its 80 miles of border.

It really depends on a number of factors: weather, moonlight, observed activity by the Border Patrol right before sunset, and whether or not the cartels are trying to push drug shipments through.

Best guess for here -- 300 to 2000 per night.

[Sparta]

That's at least 100,000 a year in Cochise County alone. Why hasn't this outrage stopped yet?

[JackelopeBreeder]

It's worse.

Last year the Border Patrol apprehended 156,950 just in this county with only 80 miles of border. Depending on who you ask, that means between 300,000 and 600,000 made it through here and scattered out all over the country. (Our real population is only 120,000.)

Now imagine what it's like along the other 2000+ miles of Mexican border.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Every time I get near the border fence, I make a point of tapping a kidney. Through the fence, aimed south. Guess that counts for an illegal border incursion.

[HiJinx]

You'd best be careful, JB, or you're gonna lose your tallywhacker to some doe-eyed senorita...!

[JackelopeBreeder]

Only if I'm really lucky.

On the other hand, I never got any written complaints.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Oh -- and you get to help with the hair dye job. We'll pretend we're re-bluing a rifle barrel so we don't feel like faggots.

[JackelopeBreeder]

I just tossed the Perma-Blue out in the garage. One more drink and I might be stupid enough to try it.

[c-b 1]

You missed one, there is one in San Luis, Az.

[Missouri]

Allow me to introduce myself under my new name. I am now Luis Martinez,

Why not Luis Gonzales or is that name already taken here on the Free Republic? (Little joke)

BTW, I seen Mr. Spencer of the ABP on The Savage Nation talking about the UAV. Good exposure and presented himself very well. A real hero.

[liberalnot]

the feds could stop that if they wanted to.

meanwhile, they're wasting manpower here in socal with the san onofre and temecula border patrol stops--these are a waste of our time.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Hey, I take what I can get. Senor Martinez was born in a town just southeast of Mexico City with an Aztec name that borrowed its spelling rules from Polish or Welsh. Need to buy some vowels here, folks.

[JackelopeBreeder]

I can't speak for California, but here in Cochise County, Arizona they were highly effective. For an illegal to make a clean get-away he was facing a 35 to 50 mile hike before catching a ride. Now he faces a max of 5 miles.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Any chance you saw us Thursday night on MSNBC? We were feeding live video from the UAV directly into their broadcast.

[Missouri]

No, I missed it thursday night. They did show some footage both on the ground and from the air yesterday. Was that the same ?

[SandRat]

Any bets on how long it will take me to obtain a matricula consular?

Not on your life I know you too well; besides anyone with the $35 can get one.

Come to think of it getting the local radio station to air the names and airlines and then interview you on how easy it was to get the matricula might be a good thing. Spiff might even have the right connections to make sure that happened.

[liberalnot]

i was commenting on the huge amount of trash left by illegals that you reported.

the landscape certainly lends itself to easy detection, especially with the technology we have today.

you'll recall that in the 1980's and early 1990's that the san diego sector was a leaky sieve. mexicans that i knew would laugh at american border patrol efforts. at that time mike reagan was reporting regularly on his national talk show about dairy mart road at night.

but then came the building of metal walls between imperial beach, san ysidro, and otay mesa, and improved border patrols and these mexicans stopped laughing.

then the coyotes shifted their activities to the mountains east of san diego. in the summer nights, rattlesnake bites are common, not to mention dehydration during the days. in the winter, rain in san diego is snow in the mountains. the result is that some illegals have died cold in the winters.

driving the yuma sector at night on i-8 border patrol efforts are most noticeable. as you drive down hill through a wash on the interstate, and the road bends a bit, all of a sudden, surprise! you are in the beam of a border patrol vehicle with its headlights on bright, crossing your path, and illuminating your face.

also, the border patrol and chp efforts on 1-8 west of yuma at night are very obvious. the imperial valley is a high crime area. just after i entered california from yuma recently, a chp cruiser pulled up on me at a tremendous speed, the officer riding shotgun trained a light on my license and, from my own police experience while i was in college, i assume transferred my plate to ncic computers.

and, the chp ride herd on truckers. more so imo than other states. you can be going 90 mph but the chp is more interested in the truckers.

i think the san onofre and temecula checkpoints are a waste of manpower. i use both frequently. both at that point out in the country are 8 lane freeways, and the 4 north bound lanes are often backed up for miles. sometimes the border patrol realizes that tempers are brewing, and they call their officers back, and just open the thing up.

congressman daryl issa has requested that the border patrol not stop passenger vehicles at these two points.

[liberalnot]

the area that i was speaking about with the border patrol parked and shining lights on autos on the i-8 is between yuma and casa grande, az, a long open area.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Sorry to say, but the ladscape where I live does not lend itself to easy observation. This is the high desert with plenty of vegetation -- at least by desert standards. It is also criss-crossed with a huge network of arroyos deep enough to hide people and vehicles. It looks fairly flat and wide open at ground level, but it isn't.

Pick a spot at random and stand on it; then walk around and discover that there could easily be 100 illegals or smugglers hidden within 100 yards of that spot. It's more like World War One trench warfare.

It's worse in the canyons -- your vision is often down to about 10 yards.

[liberalnot]

doesn't the border patrol have airplanes?

night vision equipment?

i've been there many times.

it's not forested, like the canada-u.s. border, where many middle easterners that i knew in los angeles said that they'd crossed.

[Libertina]

A special BUMP to you, friend. I am saving your reports. One day, perhaps both parties will wake up and stop this nonsense. Until then, stay safe and thanks for keeping us informed.

[liberalnot]

one moment you say one thing, and the next moment, another:

in post #34

>>here in Cochise County, Arizona they were highly effective<<

but then in your last post to me you say the border patrol is not effective due to the landscape.

which is it? are the border patrol effective or not?

[JackelopeBreeder]

The Border Patrol checkpoints on the highways were effective. There are only five roads out of here: Highways 80, 82, 83, 90, and 191. As long as they were there, illegals and smugglers faced a 35 to 50 mile cross-country trek to get safely beyond them. Good deterrent.

Kolbe had them closed down, so now they can catch their rides just a few miles after jumping the fence, head north and hit I-10 in comfort.

[liberalnot]

ok, but i've driven that stetch of i-10 for years. it would not be that difficult to monitor it.

there's something going on here that we don't know about.

question, if you, or any other like-minded person, were running the detection efforts and you had the resources, you would do whatever necessary to stop the traffic?

si.

there must be big drug monies flowing into the border patrol to counter these efforts.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Most of the action is within 10 miles of the border. I-10 is 47 to 77 miles north of the border as it passes through Cochise County.

Our local Border Patrol agents are good. Last year they were catching an average of 430 per night. That's a lot of prisoners to transport, process, and deport. How many large cities get that many prisoners every night? And this is just one little 80 mile stretch of the border.

Get-aways are another question. When asked about get-aways, the Border Patrol's management drones just tend to mumble. The more optimistic field agents think they catch only one-third of those crossing the border; the more pessimistic think it's more like one-fifth.

So, if you catch 430, anywhere from 860 to 1,720 are getting away every night. What is really bad is that those figures are from last year -- before Kolbe forced them to close the checkpoints. The figures are probably far worse now that they can hit their ride almost immediately.

[liberalnot]

in your opinion, could the u.s. government stop illegal immigration, if they desired?

[JackelopeBreeder]

Yes. It is only a matter of political will.

Of course we would have to beat some common sense into our politicians first -- and fire a bunch of BP and INS high level management. (Those clowns evidently thought Dilbert was a textbook.)

Stop the border crossers as close to the fence as possible.

Deport any illegal encountered.

No more amnesties.

I actually like Mexicans. They're usually more fun than us gringos, anyway. I really have to wonder what happened to Mexican manhood, though. Individually most are still pretty macho, but as a collective group they all squat to pee. How else account for their quiet acceptance of all the corruption in their country? They're way overdue for an uprising.

I am reminded of a quote from Edward Abbey (anathema to most Freepers but he was right in many instances). Loosely,

"Deport all the illegals. But as they pass through the gate give each man a rifle, sidearm, and a case of ammunition. He'll know what to do."