Day two. Terrorist checkpoint! in A small but passable life.
- May 2, 2018, 12:52 a.m.
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- Public
It was freeway driving. Pretty boring. A huge solar farm. A huge wind farm. Sand dunes. Pretty light traffic.
There it was- Highway 94. Interstate 8 veers a little north. Highway 94 veers a little south. A two lane twisty road through some stunning scenery. Near the little town of Campo we spotted something snaking across the face of a mountain. When we got closer we found out what it was. A brown steel border fence. So, I’ve never been to Mexico, but now I can say I’ve seen it. Right there above and behind that fence. A little ways down the road all the traffic was funneled into a checkpoint. After the flash of the cameras we pulled up to a booth and I rolled down the window. A border idiot dressed in the stupid “look at me I’m macho” ridiculous uniform asked me- “What nationality are you?” What the fuck? I shook my head, smiled and said “American?” After several more stupid questions- “Where are you coming from?”, “Where are you going?”, “Why’d you take this route?”, “What’s in the trunk?”; he got some kind of signal from someone in the booth and waved us on.
Driving away I told Mom that when he asked what was in the trunk I should have said- “Just Hector and Jose?” Yeah, she had been scared of what I was going to say.
I’ve spent nearly six decades on this planet and no one has ever asked me my nationality. Not ever. Not once.
Nevermind that the whole episode is completely Constitutionally illegal. And when did “America” become a nation or “American” a nationality?
Anyway, we drove on. Without Emma Pennyworth (the GPS). One freeway led to the next, while I bore west and south. When I finally was disorientated enough I pulled over and plugged the motel address into the GPS. I was 0.8 miles away. Not bad for flying by the seat of my pants! And then I missed the one driveway of the motel and had to turn right which led right back on to I-805! Well, shit. Exit right. Turn right. Turn right. Turn right. Turn into the motel driveway. We were an hour early. They had a room ready. Nice.
I unloaded the car. We went across the parking lot to Denny’s for an early dinner. Mom laid down for a nap and I went for a walk. It was a very busy area. I seen no fewer than a half a dozen homeless folks. And it looked like there was a small camp beside the Circle K.
The weather was unusually cool, about 60 degrees and cloudy and windy. We spent the rest of the evening in the room.
To be continued-
Last updated May 02, 2018
Deleted user ⋅ May 02, 2018
I think we have to check people at the border now , otherwise half of Mexico, Honduras and Central America are going to be living here too. The caravans of thousands are coming. Your and my tax dollars are going to be feeding , housing them and giving them medical care once they hit the border. If they get in , we continue to support them and there is a real
Possibility that we could be seeing military attacks in our streets with drug cartel “ soldiers” , just like the countries they are running from. Plus there are cartel criminals mixed in with the families to get them in this country . If we give them all Asylum then our economy will be devestated. We will find out what it feels like to live in a third world country at war then. It’s not in any way a ridiculous scenario. Our economy and government are in chaos already .
Those “ border idiots” risk their lives every day trying to keep drugs and criminals out, for very little pay when you consider they could be killed at any time. People who do that job don’t necessarily want to do it , they just want a job . There is not much out there unless you want to sling hamburgers or work at Walmart ;-( They protect us and that should be respected.
I think “American “ is a nationality ; just like English, New Zealander, African, Mexican, Canadian etc... all those countries ask your nationality at their borders. They search your bags and inspect your passports. They run you through a computer crime data base as well . They deny you entrance if there is any problem. You can not easily get asylum . They will not feed, House, and give you medical care while you are detained. If they are ok doing it, I think it’s fine for us too.
Maybe I am a little sensitive but my son is applying for border control now. He is a college graduate in Criminology but he needs a decent job . Does he love the idea of border control, especially these days ? No . However a decent job with benefits in that field is hard to find so far . He is not an idiot , he just wants to work.
Neogy Titwhistle Deleted user ⋅ May 02, 2018
The institution, not the people are idiots. We have domestic law enforcement to deal with criminals in the country. It was our geo-political and economic policies that destroyed the economies of many countries in the global south. And let us not forgot that every human on the north and south american continents are immigrants from Africa, where we ALL are from. Nations are just lines on a map. BTW, my second oldest nephew is border patrol, a helicopter mechanic. And he agrees that the border patrol like the TSA is just a jobs program. A political fear mongering ruse to keep the "defense" industry in business.
Deleted user Neogy Titwhistle ⋅ May 02, 2018
Can it possibly be ok to let all those people into the country ; knowing nothing about them, supporting them until they can find jobs ( if they can find jobs ) ? You are not worried about the drug cartels ? Extreme poverty , rapes, Beheadings, murders, and kidnapping making even areas close to the US in Mexico too dangerous for travelers , is not concerning ? It concerns me . It concerns the people risking their lives running away from that in their own countries .
I don’t know about our government policies destroying the economies of those countries, I imagine most of us don’t , however we will suffer the consequences of a government that knowingly deceived its citizens. We did not vote to destroy their economies, I doubt we were even told about it . It’s the past and these issues are now our reality . I hope you are right and I am wrong . I hope this really is a non-issue .
Neogy Titwhistle Deleted user ⋅ May 02, 2018
I wish you weren't so fearful. All those women and children waiting to get in aren't evil. They just want a better life. But hey, is it really better on this side of the fence? Watching the news here in San Diego I was informed there are 26,000 HOMELESS CHILDREN in this city. There are schools just for them. And those are American citizens. Maybe they'd be better off in Mexico? Would Mexico let them in? Yes, they would.
Deleted user Neogy Titwhistle ⋅ May 02, 2018
That kind of reinforces my thoughts. Our economy is already in trouble and we have people here that already are in terrible circumstances; let alone Fail trying to assume responsibility for more. Would Mexico let our 26, 000 homeless in ? Absolutely not. They are very strict about who crosses their border( unless people are leaving ) and there if you try to get in illegally , you don’t go to detention, you go to jail.