Thoughts on The Border Crises

I don’t know the answer for the flood of Central American illegal immigrants, but as I have noted earlier, I was the Mexican Connection in Poway, California for two decades, and never took a dime. I arranged their work schedule, fed them when it rained, washed their clothes and collected their debts from those who stiffed them.

I have done more for illegal immigrants than any of the pro amnesty activists, even took two workers through the 1986 Reagan Amnesty line for La Migra in Escondido. The promise was a sealed border, but nothing happened.

The current crises is an amalgam of previous mistakes, policies, and culture — and, despite everyone looking for a solution, there isn’t one. There simply isn’t, because people in poverty will always try to save themselves from poverty and more importantly, gangs and death. Many people want something someone else has — they can buy it, barter for it, beg for it — or steal it.

Poor people cannot buy or barter for access to the most economically powerful place on earth — California alone could join the G-8, and has an economy larger than Russia and Italy! The begging line takes 10 years — so it is easier to steal their way into the country. You would too if you lived in the chaos that is Central America.

Everyone is perfectly willing to describe the problem — conservatives say it is a failure to secure the border, liberals say it is poverty, disease and gangs.

They are both right, but describing the problem does not solve it. Everyone’s solution is part of THE solution — we need to SIMULTANEOUSLY secure the Border; process the illegal immigrants from Central America; aid the Terrible Three nations supplying us with children (have you noticed that there are no children from Costa Rica?); do something with US gang members who are illegal instead of returning them to their native states where they CAUSE the chaos; get technology assets into Central American government hands — or get the results of those assets (use NSA which can find out everything our government wishes it to find out) if we don’t trust the governments; and understand that Mexico and Central American governments have no incentive to stop the flow, and every incentive to rid themselves of their poor.

We must admit that we can’t solve the world’s problems, but we should at least try to concentrate closer to home. The Middle East is an unsolvable mess, as is Africa, and we don’t do a very good job in Chicago and Detroit, but we have our priorities reversed — we are into the Middle East and Africa, but not active in Chicago, Detroit or Central America.

If you are looking for a goat, it is the “Decision Maker” — the president. He sets both diplomatic and military policy. I know that “fixing” the Middle East is a seductive idea for the President of the United States, and like everyone with an ego they believe they can do what other presidents could not do…but they can’t.