Not long ago, my morning walk
in Arizona’s Santa Cruz River Valley was rudely interrupted.
I’d been walking my dogs in the usually silent valley.
Suddenly, I heard the drone of an airplane. Irritated, I
looked up to see a Border Patrol airplane drop down to circle just
south of Palo Parado Road. Since my home is only 14 miles north of
Mexico, I knew a drama would unfold. Sure enough, within 15
minutes, three Border Patrol vans sped up.
Somewhat
nervously, I called my dogs to come sit by my side. We then watched
the vans bump south on the dirt road alongside the Union Pacific
railroad tracks.
A short time later, a van emerged out of
clouds of dust to cough up its magnificent catch: two small,
brown-skinned, and very frightened border trespassers. They wore
the classic uniform of illegal migrants: dark blue T-shirts and
blue jeans, tattered white sneakers on their feet. Baseball caps
worn backwards rested on their heads.
As I watched, I
found myself trying to tally up the costs of an airplane and three
vans, plus the salaries of a pilot and six Border Patrol agents.
I’m certain the Border Patrol spent many thousands of dollars
to nab those two fellows.
That money is among the
billions the federal government has been spending over the years to
fortify our border. During the years I’ve lived here in Rio
Rico, Ariz., the Border Patrol’s budget has more than
tripled. But the number of undocumented migrants successfully
crossing the border keeps increasing. At the same time, the number
of people dying in the attempt also keeps increasing. In
Arizona’s southern desert, the Associated Press reports, more
than 200 illegal immigrants have died this year, “straining” the
capacity of our county morgue.
Meanwhile, Mario
Villarreal, a spokesman for the Border Patrol, said in Tucson’s
Arizona Daily Star: “We feel we have become
extremely effective in border enforcement.” From my point of view,
Mr. Villareal’s feelings are pure fantasy.
But
I’m not surprised by his comment. After all, the Border
Patrol has always been slick with its statistics. For example, it
reported 1.4 million “apprehensions” last year here in my Tucson
sector alone. But in fact, its “apprehensions” of border
trespassers may have been as few as 400,000 actual human beings.
The Border Patrol knows that far more than one-third of
the migrants it shovels back to Mexico turn right around to try
again — most often the very next day. I know this to be true
on the ground, since most of the migrants I meet down in the river
valley are recaptures.
Some even tell me that when they
are caught again, border agents address them by their first names.
Still, the Border Patrol has been steadfast in its
refusal to discount its recaptures, and there is good reason for
that. The total of 1.4 million apprehensions surely impressed
Washington politicians and bureaucrats and induces them to shovel
ever more money to the Border Patrol.
Then, there’s
the news report I read in the Arizona Republic.
It seems that the University of California surveyed 603 migrants
from Mexico’s Jalisco and Zacatecas states, the areas known
to send most of the border trespassers coming to the United States.
(I’ve met quite a few Jaliscans and Zacatecans on my morning
walks.)
The university’s survey found that 92
percent of the Jaliscans and Zacatecans questioned claimed that
they made is into this country within five tries, while “only 8
percent failed to get in and went back home.”
Think about
that statistic and the spurious claim of the Border Patrol that
border enforcement has become “effective.” The truth is this: So
long as jobs are here that Americans refuse to do for the pay
offered, people will cross the border to find work. Illegals will
find the network that leads them to jobs, and employers will not
hesitate to hire them. Deterrence does not work now, nor has it
worked for a long time.
And what of those two frightened
fellows whose capture I witnessed? Did they try to cross again the
next morning? Of course, they did. With a 92 percent guarantee of
success, I surely would. Wouldn’t you?
Jack McGarvey is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a
service of High Country News in Paonia, Colorado
(hcn.org). He lives and writes in Rio Rico,
Arizona.
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