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?

[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."