The Mexican-American border is more than the Rio Grande or a fence in the desert; it's a mobile frontier where cultures have struggled for centuries. Forces of mayhem are currently dominant because governments on both sides don't care, don't appreciate the terror or are making money off the situation.
When not stopped at the border they reach up into America and everyone feels the danger, the insecurity. Americans used to feel it when they visited border towns then feel secure upon return--now it's much farther north.
We discuss it, a strong, invisible sensation affecting us all alike. It isn't cultural prejudice. Friends from Mexico say it's stronger for them, a sense of being subject to the whims of local strongmen, of not having a set of laws to protect them. It drives them to emigrate to America
The American rule of law attracts people of little opportunity from deep in Latin America. At home, they cannot attain the security afforded the general American public, and so they come, danger increasing as they approach the border.
Danger also increases as governments and economies weaken. The more desperate people, the more criminals there are to prey on them. When governments turn their back, predators pounce. Conditions are worsening.
In places the sense of security has extended into Mexico. Algodones, on the Colorado River across from Yuma, easily accessible from California, has been a haven for Americans for many years. Kept absolutely safe by Mexican authorities, retirees wintering in the area shop, dine, and meet all their medical needs in complete security.
Cannon balls have flown over the Rio Grande at the south tip of Texas but usually they are at peace. Now, however, as in all border towns, you cross into Mexico at your own risk; the nature of the border changes.
Ojinaga was our regional secret for years. Far from other border towns, it escaped the usual filth. It felt like a Mexican city far below the border, safe, beautiful and friendly, right on the Rio Grande.
Today, Ojinagans with family on both sides of the river advise not to visit. Rural areas are safe but the city is insecure. What a tragedy. This tears at the heart of Mexico and at the hearts of all who love Mexican culture.
The El Paso area is fascinating, unique in its cooperation between authorities. Two national governments are involved, two American states, one Mexican state, El Paso County, two American cities (El Paso and Las Cruces, NM) and several municipalities and colonias. They have a vast reservoir of border knowledge, of solving problems, yet who is going to those functionaries and gathering information?
Corruption in Texas has made the American side of the border so insecure at times that Texans moved to Mexico. When "Ma" Ferguson was elected governor in 1933, famed Texas Ranger Frank Hamer quit the Rangers in disgust and rode with the
Rurales in Mexico.
Anglos were first drawn to Texas by freedoms afforded under the Mexican Constitution of 1824. That's why "1824" was on the
Alamo flag. They rebelled against the dictator
Santa Anna, not against Mexico, because he had rescinded that Constitution.
Before Santa Anna marched north, the line between the rule of law and the rule of man was about two hundred miles south of the current border, below Monterrey and Saltillo. Northern Mexico is still culturally and politically distinct from Central Mexico, more conservative and business oriented.
With Santa Anna's defeat at
San Jacinto in 1836, the line retreated to the Rio Grande according to Texans, to the Nueces River according to Mexicans, and the land between those rivers became a war zone for decades, finally secured for the United States through force of arms.
Border power fluctuates along the highway from Southern California to
San Felipe in Mexico, on the Gulf of California. It's a gold mine for Mexican traffic cops.
The highway also runs north from Mexico to almost unlimited work in the
Imperial Valley.
When Mexican cops put too much pressure on tourists going to San Felipe, American cops put the hammer on Mexicans headed north to work. After a few days everyone backs off and the cycle starts over.
The border might be a designated line but it's actually malleable, a perception of authority. The powers of evil pace themselves to our government's varying level of concern, like Ho Chi Minh manipulating President Johnson, and they will win using the same tactic.
North American civilization is gradually eroding, as in the current discussion of resident tuition rates for long-term illegal aliens. Even conservative politicians are confused, willing to negate Federal Law to avoid the discussion.
Decision makers accept facts as fed to them and agree to pass the buck, ignoring standard methods of determining justice: contrasting people's behaviors under like circumstances.
A significant body of illegal alien students foresee the residency problem and resolve it before they apply to college. We never hear of them because they come from self-reliant families, hard-working people, the best of the American dream. Mexico might someday save America from moral and economic collapse because of these people.
Should the system be changed? No. Illegal alien students should take care of their residency status ahead of time, like their peers. This is not a government problem; it's an individual problem, but no politicians on the federal level are willing to take the risk to say so.
If politicians ignore the law to accommodate noncompliance more exceptions will be sought--mayhem will increase.
Enemies of civilization encourage whining because it unsettles incompetent authority, benefits the forces of evil. The corny phrase "forces of evil" applies here--come visit.
To cease suffering, just as to cease war, there is no substitute for victory. Are our leaders willing to step up to the task? Stabilizing the border will take a firm hand.
Richard B. Jones is a bilingual probation officer, migrant teacher and welfare worker in rural West Texas; he has lived and worked in many places including China and the Middle East. His blog is: TheCaprock.com
